StaTuesday: Wild's Granlund has developed into a shooting star
The Minnesota Wild's Mikael Granlund is tied for 12th in the NHL in scoring.
Mikael Granlund made his 300th career NHL game one to remember.
Minnesota's fifth-year forward scored a spectacular goal just 12 seconds into overtime, getting past Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Drew Doughty and then beating goaltender Jonathan Quick to lift the Wild to a 5-4 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
It was Granlund's 55th point of the season, moving him into a tie with stars Phil Kessel and Vladimir Tarasenko for 12th in the NHL in scoring.
But while Granlund has always been regarded as an exceptional playmaker, he's rapidly evolved into a dangerous scoring threat.
MIKAEL GRANLUND CAREER STATS
| Season | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | +/- |
| 2012-13 | 27 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -4 |
| 2013-14 | 63 | 8 | 33 | 41 | -3 |
| 2014-15 | 68 | 8 | 31 | 39 | 17 |
| 2015-16 | 82 | 13 | 31 | 44 | -12 |
| 2016-17 | 60 | 20 | 36 | 56 | 29 |
He leads the Wild in scoring with 20 goals -- tied with Nino Niederreiter -- and is on pace to double his previous career high in goals.
And while Granlund's shooting numbers have stayed more or less the same this season, his percentages have shot up.
His 5-on-5 shooting percentage has more than doubled compared to last season.
GRANLUND SHOOTING PERCENTAGES
| Season | 5-on-5 | Overall |
| 2012-13 | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| 2013-14 | 8.0% | 7.7% |
| 2014-15 | 9.1% | 8.1% |
| 2015-16 | 5.7% | 8.1% |
| 2016-17 | 11.3% | 14.9% |
Granlund ranks 11th in the league and eighth among forwards (minimum 30 games played) with an 11.25 shooting percentage at 5-on-5, while the Wild average 3.18 even-strength goals per 60 minutes when Granlund is on the ice and just 1.52 goals against.
He's not alone.
NHL 5-ON-5 SHOOTING PCT. LEADERS
| Player | Team | SH% |
| Patrick Laine | WIN | 13.01% |
| Jason Zucker | MIN | 12.98% |
| TJ Oshie | WAS | 12.62% |
| Kevin Hayes | NYR | 12.09% |
| Mark Scheifele | WIN | 11.60% |
| Matt Dumba | MIN | 11.56% |
| Alex Ovechkin | WAS | 11.53% |
| Michael Grabner | NYR | 11.40% |
| Brady Skjei | NYR | 11.34% |
| Ryan Suter | MIN | 11.26% |
| Mikael Granlund | MIN | 11.25% |
| Karl Alzner | WAS | 11.21% |
| Evgeny Kuznetsov | WAS | 11.19% |
| Trevor Van Riemsdyk | CHI | 11.18% |
| Nicklas Backstrom | WAS | 11.17% |
| Jay Beagle | WAS | 11.07% |
| Nino Niederreiter | MIN | 11.02% |
| Mikko Koivu | MIN | 11.00% |
| Jared Spurgeon | MIN | 10.94% |
| Thomas Vanek | DET | 10.91% |
Granlund, Mikko Koivu and Jason Zucker have combined to form one of the league's most potent scoring lines, and it's led to some huge numbers for the trio.
Zucker leads the league with a 3.95 GF60 at 5-on-5, nearly doubling his numbers from last season.
Statistics via hockey-reference.com and Puckanalytics.com
