There has justifiably been a lot of attention paid to Josh Harding's sensational start. The Wild goaltender has given up 17 goals in 15 games and leads the NHL with a 1.21 goals-against average and .947 save percentage.
Ryan Suter has also been the talk of the NHL in recent days. Last season's Norris Trophy runner-up is making 30-plus minute games seem like nothing again thanks to a string of 35-plus minute nights.
And throughout the Wild's 8-1-2 streak since Oct. 19, Zach Parise has scored clutch goals and Mikael Granlund-to-Jason Pominville has been a common occurrence.
All of the above has overshadowed another significant reason why the Wild keeps racking up points and hasn't lost in regulation this month heading into Friday's contest with the Florida Panthers.
The Wild has established a prototypical shutdown third line thanks to mainstays Matt Cooke and Kyle Brodziak. Cooke, who ranks second on the Wild with a plus-7 rating, and Brodziak, a plus-3, have been on the ice for only two even-strength goals against each in the past 12 games.
That's remarkable when a checking line's task every night is face the opposing team's top scoring lines. Lately, Cooke and Brodziak have skated with rookie Justin Fontaine, third on the Wild with six goals and a plus-6 rating.
"At the end of the day, I judge our line by where we spend time and, if we're spending time in the defensive zone, we're doing something wrong," said Cooke, in his 15th NHL year and first with the Wild. "A lot of times games are judged by stats. Unfortunately, when you're playing on the third line, sometimes you can't look at stats unless you're looking at the stats of the line we're up against.
"Stats have many tales, but to judge our success, if the line we're playing against gets zeroes, then we've done our job."