The Wild's penalty kill went a perfect 5-for-5 in their latest 2-1 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks to improve to 7-2-0 under John Hynes.

St. Paul, - The Wild's penalty kill was a hot topic at the start of the season as they were 66.7 percent effective when it came to killing penalties with a 5-10-4 record on November 27th. 

After the Wild brought in John Hynes to be their next coach, they have gone 27 for 31 on the penalty kill, 87 percent effective, and have gone 7-2-0 under Hynes during that stretch. Tonight the PK was a perfect 100 percent effective.

“Same as the five-on-five play, the execution wasn’t there. We were static," Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said on the Canucks power play. "Even like, we’d shoot it and nobody in front. We got a lot of shots blocked. That was something I thought we, there was a lot of opportunities to make some plays. I thought we just shot in the shin pads of guys.”

The Wild's penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5 tonight and really kept them in the game especially in the second period when they took three penalties. The Wild were able to kill all three of them off and eventually another in the third. 

"We’ve been blocking a lot of shots and have really good sticks and just our positioning, guys know where to be and I think just accepting the rush has been a lot better. We’re not really giving up too much," Wild assistant captain Marcus Foligno said. "Before it seemed like easy break-ins and right now we’re having really good pressure and accepting the rush and putting pressure on special players on the unit. And obviously getting really good goaltending. That’s your biggest penalty killer right there. 

"Gus and Flower have been great at penalty kill lately. No matter what, guys are gonna have looks, that’s just the way it is 5-on-4 and you need some saves and we’re getting that too."

Not only has the Wild's penalty kill been great lately but their overall defensive game has been much approved. Since Hynes took over as head coach the Wild have allowed 14 goals against which is the lowest in the entire NHL. 

A lot of that falls on Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury and how well they have been playing but it also is a factor of how they defend and limit chances off the rush. The amount of high danger rush chances thew Wild have allowed recently is a lot less than they used too. 

"It's our reloads and tracks by our forwards. They’re on top of people," Hynes said on limiting rush chances. "They crush the rush. Our defensemen have been able to hold good gaps. And our sort outs at the defensive blueline were really strong."

Tonight the Wild only allowed one high danger chance off the rush at 5v5 and it resulted in the Canucks only goal of the game. Last game the Wild only allowed three and in their first game under Hynes they only allowed one. 

The positioning of the forwards in the neutral zone along with their back-checks have been the biggest factors. The defensemen have been able to play a bit tight but not as aggressive as before. There isn't a lot of pinching and right now, limiting chances off the rush is something the Wild have been great at recently. 

"Yeah, our backchecking and stuff have been helpful. We have a really good, relaiable third guy that comes over top and our sort outs and we’re quick to check in our zone right now," Foligno said. "So 5-on-5 we’re not giving teams much, even though they scored one tonight but that’s been really big with our team."

It was also another game where the Wild scored the first goal of the game early and were able to sit on the lead a little bit to keep them in the game. 

It was Freddy Gaudreau who got the Wild on the board in the first after a nice pass from Foligno. Pat Maroon picked up the secondary assist on the play which was his 300th point of his career. 

"No, I forgot. We’ve been talking about it for awhile and he hasn’t had a point in a long time so I mean, it was a little bit frustrating there and then I saw him lock eyes with me and I said ‘oh shit that’s right’. Exciting moment for him," Foligno said on grabbing the puck for Maroon. "For a big man like that, it’s great to have a lot of point and it’s great to assist on it and be a part of that milestone. So it was a good game by our line tonight."

Daemon Hunt played in his first game under Hynes tonight and was on the ice for the only goal against but was very steady throughout the game. The 6-foot-1 defenseman finished the game with three zone exits on three attempts, had one shot, an expected goals total of .576 and only allowed one shot off the rush at 5v5 on four chances. 

“I liked Daemon. I thought Daemon played well. He’s a strong kid, good skater," Hynes said. "I thought he moved the puck pretty well. And even just his adjustment from kind of coming up and getting with the team and just some of the little changes that we’ve made but also playing against a team like this that plays a high pace in your face game, I thought he did a good job.”

Hunt, 21, has been playing in Iowa recently for the Iowa Wild and has recorded eight points in his last five games in the AHL before he got recalled by the Wild when Jonas Brodin was placed on LTIR and with Jared Spurgeon being out with an lower-body injury. 

Spurgeon will travel with the team for their two game road trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday and the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. 

But tonight it was the second straight game that had to be decided in a shootout. Mats Zuccarello scored the only shootout goal while Gustavsson stopped all three Canucks chances. 

Elias Pettersson had the chance to keep the shootout going but Gustavsson was able to come up with a big save to end the game. 

"He usually shoots low blocker," Gustavsson said on his fellow Swede, Pettersson. "And then on JT Miller, I figured he wasn’t going to go five hole again after that breakaway. It almost looks like five hole is so open the whole time, so I’m guessing it’s a cat and mouse game and I took the cheese today."

Since Hynes took over, Gustavsson has been outstanding. The 25-year-old goaltender had a 2-6-2 record under Dean Evason with a 3.94 goals-against average and a -8.24 goals-saved above expected. 

With Hynes, Gustavsson has gone 6-1-0 with a 1.38 goals-against average, a 9.46 goals-saved above expected and a remarkable .953 save percentage as opposed to his .881 save percentage under Evason. 

"I had some games where I didn't have the trust in my own game and I played bad," Gustavsson said on the change. "But then when I accepted that we're struggling a little bit as a team, I found my game again."

Gustavsson has certainly found his game again and so has this team. The Wild are 7-2-0 in their last nine games which is first in the NHL. They have gone from 30th in the NHL in points percentage to 22nd and are currently two points out of a playoff spot with a game or more in hand on all of the teams in the Western conference. 

Zone exits, expected goals, shot attempts off the rush, and high danger chances off the rush are tracked by Dylan Loucks.

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