Only four NHL clubs have recorded 40 of fewer goals this season, but one of them is the first-place team in the Northwest Division, the Minnesota Wild. At 10-4-1, they’re the only one of the four teams above the .500 mark, thanks to a stout defense that has been a Wild trademark since joining the league eight years ago.

The stingy Wild have allowed just 30 goals in 15 games this season. Only one other team in the league has allowed fewer than 40 goals, and that would be the surprising Boston Bruins (39). The 10-3-4 Bruins have given up just 2.06 goals a game in 2008-09; only the Wild have a lower average (2.00).

Unlike the low-scoring Wild, however, the Bruins have had more of a scoring touch, especially compared to last season. They’ve tallied 52 goals and average 3.00 a game, which puts them solidly in the middle of the NHL pack. That’s markedly better than the 2.51 per-game average that ranked 24th in the league a year ago.

In 2007-08, no Bruin scored as many as 30 goals, and only Marco Sturm (27) and Chuck Kobasew (22) reached the 20 plateau. This season, Boston has generated a balanced scoring attack that includes six players with five or more goals: fast-starting, 21-year-old Phil Kessel (7), Sturm (6), Marc Savard (6), rookie Blake Wheeler (6), 20-year-old Milan Lulic (5) and defenseman Dennis Wideman (5). The only team that can match the Bruins with six five-goal scorers is Philadelphia.

Boston is in the midst of an 8-1-1 surge, a stretch in which Sturm leads the way with five goals and Savard has 10 points. More importantly, the Bruins have allowed just 15 goals (1.50 a game) during this span. Most of the credit goes to No. 1 goaltender Tim Thomas, as the Bruins rank 23rd in the league for fewest shots allowed per game (31.4), but first as a team in goalies’ save percentage (.935).

At the start of the season, Thomas and Manny Fernandez shared goaltending duties, but Thomas has taken over lately by posting a league-leading .945 save percentage. He’s started 11 of 17 games, going 6-2-3, and ranks second to only San Jose’s Brian Boucher with a 1.76 goals-against average.

During Boston’s 8-1-1 run, Thomas has allowed just nine goals and posted a .961 save percentage in seven games. The 34-year-old veteran faced at least 30 shots in six of those seven games en route to a 5-1-1 record. Thomas posted back-to-back shutouts on consecutive nights in Edmonton and Vancouver early in the streak.

It’s a similar situation in Minnesota. The always defensive-minded Wild are 16th in the league for fewest shots allowed per game (30.1) -- currently the highest single-season average for shots allowed in franchise history -- yet they are second in save percentage behind the Bruins this season (.934).

Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom has allowed more than three goals only once this season -- in a 4-3 overtime loss to Buffalo on Oct. 23. Since then, the 30-year-old native of Finland has posted a 1.90 GAA and .940 save percentage in nine games. He’s just 6-3-0, however, as the Wild scored just three goals in his three losses.

Backstrom always seems to be on his game at home. In his last 12 regular-season appearances in St. Paul, dating to March 15, the Wild’s No. 1 goalie is 11-0-1 with a 1.40 GAA and .950 save percentage. He has shut out the Kings, Canucks and Coyotes in this span.

The Wild have allowed an NHL-low four power play goals this season, and the next-lowest total is seven by the Rangers. Backstrom certainly deserves his share of credit for the success of the penalty-killing unit. For the season, he is 10-3-1 with a 2.00 GAA and .934 save percentage. Backstrom ranks among the NHL’s top five in wins, GAA and save percentage.

Getting enough scoring will be a season-long concern for the Wild, but both the Wild and Bruins will need to tighten up their defensive game to win division titles. So far, the No. 1 goalie has been terrific for both first-place teams. Neither club will maintain its current winning percentage, though, if the goaltender has to face 30+ shots a game, post a sub-2.00 GAA and one of the league’s best save percentages all the season long.