ST. PAUL, Minn - Since Nov. 1, the Minnesota Wild is tied for first in the NHL with six wins and 13 points. Minnesota is 6-1-1 in that span.

It has been a drastic change since the start of the season. They won three of the first 12 games of the season and were at the bottom of the league. After the worst October in franchise history, the Wild are back on top. Thanks to elite defensive play and goaltending.

Since the start of the month, the Wild have allowed only 14 goals which ranks first in the NHL. They rank first in goals-against average with a 1.71 and third in save percentage with a .937.

Before letting up two power-play goals against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, the Wild's penalty kill ranked third in the NHL at 94.1 percent. In the first 12 games of the year the Wild were 3-6-3 and had a 60.0 percent penalty kill which was last in the NHL. They ranked 29th in goals against per game as well.

The script has flipped now.

"Yeah. I think there’s a lot of good things that we’re doing offensively. I think that also comes, too, I don’t know how you guys feel but just coaching the team and seeing them, I think there’s more and more individual players emerging of what we need them to be, playing to their identities, making impacts on the game," Wild head coach John Hynes said on what has changed.

"I think with that comes a better game in general. Its’ not so much always the tactics and the systems. A lot of times it’s the commitment to that. But more the emergence of guys bringing what they can bring and what we knew they can bring."

Hynes didn't want to talk about certain guys in particular who have been playing to their identities but it is a bit obvious he is talking about Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin as two guys who have found their game.

Trenin is currently second in the NHL in hits with 85 and Foligno is ninth with 67 hits. He had seven hits against Vegas and has 34 hits since Nov. 1, which ranks second in the NHL.

On Sunday, Trenin scored a big goal in the second period to give the Wild the lead. Danila Yurov and Foligno assisted on the goal. 

“Yeah, what the hell. He stole my celebration," Foligno said on Trenin's goal and celebration. "I thought that was me jumping into the glass at first. I thought I was having an out-of-body experience. It was good. It was exciting. Obviously, we were working hard, our line, to get rewarded was big.”

Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) on X TRENDAWG

The trio has looked really good together since they were put together. Trenin and Foligno go and create space for Yurov after big hits. They grind guys down with the way they play. Being big, fast and hard on guys has sparked this team.

"Yeah, it's good. I think Trenin and Foligno have really got to their identity here, I'd say, the last two or three games," Hynes said on the line. "I think they're playing north and fast, and Yurov, I think he complements them well because he's a good skating centerman. I think he can transport the puck up the ice at times. And when those two guys get in and bang and crash in the offensive zone, he's a smart player where, I think, he finds good ice, where when they get puck retrievals in the offensive zone, he's usually in good spots where they can pop it to him, and then there's usually a next play. It's not just a forecheck. It's a forecheck, and then they get possession the puck, and then because he's in good spots, I think it extends the offensive zone time for them."

Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) on X My goodness what a hit

Since Nov. 1, the Wild rank fourth in hits and fourth in blocked shots. In the first 12 games of the season they ranked 14th in blocked shots.

"I think the big thing is we feel like we have way better gaps right now," Filip Gustavsson said on what has changed with this team since November. "When they enter the zone, we're right on top of them. We don't give them as much space. Before they came out, they came in and shot around us, and just had a lot of space there. Now we're limiting it. Then we really started to dig in on blocking more shots too."

It is crazy how much this team has changed since its worst October in franchise history. It looks like a completely different team.

As Gustavsson and Hynes eluded too, guys are just buying in more now. They are willing to do whatever it takes to put it on the line to win a game. Sunday's back check by Matt Boldy in overtime was a perfect example of that.

In overtime, Marcus Johansson turned the puck over onto the stick of Mitch Marner who rushed in on Gustavsson on a breakaway. The $12 million dollar forward elected to not shoot the puck on the breakaway but instead drop it behind him for a trailing Shea Theodore.

Boldy hustled back after the turnover and lifted the stick of Theodore to break up what would have been an easy tap-in goal with Gustavsson out of position on Marner's move.

Moments later, Theodore took a penalty and the Wild scored the game-winner on the power play.

"Yeah, big time," Hynes said on Boldy, a skilled player, making a gritty play. "That’s one of the things, it was a great play by Bolds tonight. I think the privilege of coaching this team is that regardless of stature on a team or playing time on the team, or whatever it is, guys care. And they’re willing to do the thankless jobs. One of the things I know about the team is that whether it’s Kirill Kaprizov or Matt Boldy or it’s Vinnie Hinostroza or it’s Jonesy [Ben Jones] or Faber or Hunt, whoever it might be, they care about winning and are willing to do the things that it takes to do that and that’s an example of what Bolds did tonight."

As Hynes said, the Wild’s surge isn’t about systems—it’s about commitment. Minnesota’s dramatic November turnaround has been driven by elite defensive play, physicality, and players rediscovering who they need to be. And ever since Jared Spurgeon’s players-only meeting, the group has played like a team fully aligned with its identity again.

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