from Craig Custance of ESPN,

You just keep waiting for the turnaround to happen for the Minnesota Wild, that string of 10 games or so when those shots currently hitting the post start going in or all that offensive zone time they generate actually translates into goals. And yet, here we are on Jan. 12 and the Wild are in last place in the Central.

In fairness, you have to consider the division they play in and point out that last in the Central is kind of like being right in the middle of the Metropolitan, but still. It's bad.

The Wild's 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday was their fifth straight. After the game, Mike Yeo put it this way according to Wild beat writer Mike Russo: The clock is ticking. It's ticking on their chances of getting in the playoffs and it may be ticking on the time Yeo has left on the job.

read on for Burnside on Ducks/Jets and Strang on Jimmy Howard injury...