NHL Lessons Learned: the Wild, Wild West

Another week of NHL action has come and gone, and the Minnesota Wild are the biggest news in the league. The Wild are red-hot, and they've skyrocketed quickly up the division and conference standings.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Avalanche continue to sit atop the NHL standings and the Boston Bruins have a candidate for a major individual trophy. Let's dive into the major lessons learned from the NHL's regular season.

Wild, Wild West

The Minnesota Wild rightly have the attention of the entire NHL right now. Winners of five straight, they've also shut out their opponents three times during that span, holding the Anaheim Ducks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Winnipeg Jets to no goals.

The hot stretch is also defined by the emergence of former first-round pick Jesper Wallstedt. The 23-year-old Swedish puck-stopper has three shutouts himself over his past five starts and he's allowed five total goals over his last five appearances. Forming a dynamic tandem with Filip Gustavsson, the Wild have a top goaltending duo in the NHL and it's taking them to the top of the Central Division and Western Conference standings.

Avalanche Winning in All Types of Ways

The Colorado Avalanche are the best team in the NHL so far, sporting a 16-1-5 record in 22 games. With a single regulation loss, the Avs are a juggernaut in the Western Conference.

With the best defenseman in the NHL in Cale Makar and MVP candidate Nathan MacKinnon leading their team, it's easy to write them off as simply the best offensive group. While their production is impressive, with a +38 goal differential, the Avs are able to win any way required.

Look at their latest win against the Chicago Blackhawks. They outworked a talented and rising Blackhawks squad by a final score of 1-0, locking things down when they needed to in order to walk away with two points.