Marco Rossi Just Keeps Getting Better… and the Minnesota Wild Need Him Desperately
No Jake Middleton. No Kirill Kaprizov. Lose Jared Spurgeon? No problem. The Minnesota Wild managed their second win in their last three games on Tuesday night, despite being without multiple forwards and defensemen yet again.
Much of it was due to the play of Marco Rossi, who won 12 of 15 faceoffs, scored two goals and assisted on another in Minnesota’s 5-3 win over Nashville. The Wild played well despite all the missing contributors. It was reminiscent of how they played on Friday night, when two late goals erased a third period deficit for an upset victory in Dallas.
Marco Rossi started the scoring against the Predators with a play that’s been pretty indicative of his successful season. He wins the faceoff, skates to the high-danger area in front of the net, and gets rewarded for being there on a shot by Mats Zuccarello. Rossi is winning faceoffs at almost a 50-percent rate this season. That’s five percentage points better than his performance on the dot over the past three seasons.
The Rossi goal for those interested: pic.twitter.com/nMoramrJ7c
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 1, 2025
Marco Rossi continues to get better
Marco Rossi also won the faceoff to start overtime in Dallas on Sunday, and 35 seconds later, Brock Faber scored a wraparound goal for the win. Rossi’s ascent to top-line center is the biggest reason for the Wild’s success despite injuries sustained, and the biggest reason for his ascent is his willingness to play in high-danger areas.
Related: Jared Spurgeon Injury Update Not Good After Dirty Slew Foot
According to NHL Edge, 10 of Rossi’s 14 goals have come from high-danger areas, putting him in the league’s 95th percentile. He’s also in the 93rd percentile in high-danger shots, with 35 of 68 shots coming from the net-front area.
“This isn’t an aberration, either. Last season, 66 of Rossi’s 167 shots (87th percentile) and 14 of his 21 goals (85th percentile) came from high-danger areas.”
-Michael Russo, The Athletic (subscription required)
When Joel Eriksson Ek was lost to injury on Dec. 3, he led Wild forwards in on-ice expected goals differential with 4.957 over 22 games played. Rossi wasn’t far behind with 3.691 despite a shot percentage of 16.3 percent. Since Marco Rossi was elevated to the top line, his on-ice xGoal differential has skyrocketed, leading Wild forwards at 5.161 coming into the game against Nashville.
Related: Kirill Kaprizov Injury Update: Some Good and Bad News on the Minnesota Wild Superstar
Much of Rossi’s success is due to an increase in his shooting percentage to 20.6 percent, which comes with more shots taken from high-danger areas. The young man has gained more confidence than ever skating with the top guys, and it’s shown in the numbers.
Basically, the Wild now have two top-line centers more than willing to mix it up in front of the net. Whether Marco Rossi’s size will hold up in the playoffs is yet to be seen, but he hasn’t shied away from the crease despite his five-foot-nine, 182-pound frame.
Minnesota Wild need Rossi to step up
Regardless, we do know is Marco Rossi is going to stay in Minnesota for the time being. Bill Guerin told The Athletic‘s Michael Russo he’s “not looking to trade him.” And that’s a good thing, because with all of these injuries, the Wild need Rossi to continue to develop and blossom into one of the best centers in the Western Conference.
But with the injury to Spurgeon on Tuesday night, there’s now a need to improve the defensive depth sooner rather than later. I talked about that on the most recent episode of our Minnesota Foul Play-by-Play podcast.
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