Minnesota Wild Are Best In NHL For Goals Against

The Minnesota Wild are starting to get the attention of hockey fans for their great play so far this young season. The Wild currently sit on top of the Northwest Division with a record of 10-4-1 for 21 points. But what's interesting is that the Wild have allowed only 30 goals against during that span. They lead the league with a stingy 2.0 G.A.A. The surprising Vancouver Canucks playing in front of shutout leader Roberto Luongo also have 21 points, but have allowed 42 goals. that's in spite of Luongo's 5 shutouts this year, which indicates that when they allow goals it's usually a fair number. The next best is the Bruins, who have allowed only 39 total goals. Here's the best teams as far as goals against average so far:

BEST MIN 2.00 BOS 2.06 NYR 2.15 VAN 2.41 SJS 2.53 PHX 2.56 LAK 2.59 OTT 2.59 MTL 2.62 BUF 2.65

WORST DAL 3.59 ATL 3.59 CGY 3.44 TOR 3.39 STL 3.31 NSH 3.29 DET 3.25 PHI 3.24 NYI 3.18 CBJ 3.11

Who have been the individual stars at the goalie position this year? Obviously Roberto Luongo with his 5 shutouts, but the BEST GOALIE is Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins. Thomas always seems to find a way to win recently. His save percentage is an excellent .945 which leads the league. His personal GAA also leads the league at 1.76/game in his 11 games so far. The next best is Erik Ersberg of the LA Kings, whose GAA is 1.96/game after 9 games.

As for most wins, the Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist leads the league with 11 wins, but he's also been in 17 Rangers games. Overall, Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild is the only goalie in the top 5 in all four categories: 3rd in save percentage (.934), 5th in GAA (2.00), in a 4-way tie for 2nd in shutouts with two shutouts, and 3rd for wins with 10. Overall a solid start for Backstrom. This guy needs your support for the All-Star game.

It's too early to be handing out any Vezina or Jennings Trophies, but it looks like with Martin Brodeur out for most of the season, they're pretty much up for grabs this season. Brodeur has had a lock on the Vezina in recent years having won it 4 out of the last 5 years. Who will take them this year? It's too early, so your guess is as good as mine.