The Minnesota Wild have been strong on the road this season, but the same can’t be said for their home games. After a five-game road trip, they return to Xcel Energy Center on Thursday to face the Carolina Hurricanes, hoping to improve their home record.
At home, the Wild are 11-12-1, but they have an impressive 20-7-3 record when playing away. The difference is clear in several aspects of their game. At home, they score just 2.58 goals per game, ranking 31st in the league, and give up an average of 3.29 goals, which is seventh-worst.
They’ve only scored 22 goals in the third period at home, the second-lowest in the league, and their penalty kill at home is the worst in the NHL at 61.1 percent.
On the road, their performance is much better. They score 3.03 goals per game (12th in the league) and allow just 2.47 goals (second fewest). They’re second in third-period goals on the road with 38 and their penalty kill, though not great, sits at 77.1 percent (20th).
The Wild are returning home after two losses on the road, getting outscored 9-0 — 6-0 against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and 3-0 against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
“Maybe that’s a good change, coming home needing to turn things around a little bit,” said forward Marcus Johansson. “We need to make our home a place that’s tough to come and play, and we haven’t done that yet so far.”
Marco Rossi has been a bright spot for the Wild, already setting a career-high with 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 54 games, second on the team behind injured star Kirill Kaprizov (52 points). Rossi is three goals shy of his career best set last season.
The Hurricanes are coming off two losses of their own. After a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, they were shut out 3-0 by the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
“There’s definitely things we have to be better at as a group, but you’ve got to move on, that’s it,” said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour. “It’s a new day tomorrow and we’ve got to try and find a win in the next game.”
The Hurricanes are struggling on the power play, going 0-for-2 against Winnipeg and 1-for-25 over their last 10 games.
“I feel like special teams, for sure, cost us the game (against the Jets),” said forward Sebastian Aho. “It’s a tough loss because at five-on-five, that’s a pretty good team, they don’t give up too much. But we had our looks, for sure enough chances to win the hockey game. We weren’t able to cash in, and that’s obviously been the trend as of late here. We’ve just got to be better.”
Before these two losses, the Hurricanes were 6-0-1 in their previous seven games. Aho contributed with seven points (four goals, three assists) in five games during that stretch, but has been kept off the scoresheet in the last two games.
