The Minnesota Wild are on quite the ugly streak as the team lost its eighth straight game on Wednesday evening, but the team is still second in its division with a winnable home game on tap for Thursday night against the Edmonton Oilers. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. and be broadcast on local television via Fox Sports North.
Even though the Wild have dropped eight straight games, they aren't being overlooked by the opposition. Derek Zona wrote at Oilers' site Copper 'N' Blue that this year's Minnesota team might actually be better than last season's squad based on puck possession and quality of shots.
One of central pillars of the arguments from those who believe the Wild are a legitimate top-tier team is shot quality. The argument says something to the effect that possession metrics don't explain the Wild because they get better shots and generate more scoring chances as part of believing and playing in Mike Yeo's system.
The terrifying Vic Ferrari used the Babcock quote in an article he penned of the same name. In that article, Ferrari explained his study on the correlation between scoring chances and possession (Corsi).
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