The Minnesota Wild had their six-game point streak snapped in a 6-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets inside Canada Life Centre on the road Tuesday night.
While the score didn’t reflect it, the Wild actually had the better of the play at five-on-five and in all situations. The Wild, who outshot the Jets 39-30, controlled 54.21% of the Corsi share and 59.51% of the expected goal share at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Yet, the upper hand in quality looks and generating offense didn’t matter in the end, namely due to the Wild’s lack of execution with the puck in the offensive zone and a rough night for Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed five goals on 29 shots and 2.79 expected goals against.
“We gotta bear down,” coach John Hynes told the media after the loss. “I think the process to get to those chances was good. But when you get that many looks and you’re attacking offensively — you gotta find a way to get to the back of the net.”
Still, despite failing to take advantage of an opportunity to tie the eighth-place St. Louis Blues in the standings on Tuesday, the Wild aren’t worried.
“I don’t think we got outplayed by any means,” Marc-Andre Fleury told the media. “Not too worried. Put that one behind, learn and keep going.”
And they shouldn’t be worried.
That’s in large part to their continued strong play. As Joel Eriksson Ek said after the Wild’s record-setting win over Vancouver Monday, “We (have) played well. Played solid. Not too high and not too low and just try to let the game come to us and not chase it too much.”
With that said, the Wild’s margin for error continues to shrink, so there can’t be too many more nights like that where they control play, but fail to earn a point. And the Wild certainly can't keep losing to the Central Division's top teams. (The Wild have lost all seven games against Dallas, Colorado and Winnipeg).
But the loss certainly shouldn’t overshadow how the Wild have been playing and what they’ve accomplished — a 5-1-1 record — coming out of the bye week and All-Star break.
After all, they’re back in the playoff race with an important back-to-back on the road ahead of them on Friday in Edmonton and Saturday in Seattle.
The good news is…the Wild’s style of game right now is giving them a chance to win every night and will down the stretch if it continues.
“We’ve played a pretty consistent game, and what I mean by that is we’ve got to have a certain level of competitiveness and willingness to compete at a high level night in and night out,” Hynes said after Saturday's loss at home to Buffalo.
“That’s hard to do, but if you want to win and you want to be a playoff team, that, first and foremost, is important. I think we’ve had that commitment, regardless of who we’ve played, to have that level of mental and physical intensity. And we’ve had that. I think the style of game overall has been strong.
“We’ve been strong on the forecheck, strong (in the) offensive zone. We’ve been able to control some games where we’re not under a lot of duress, and I think that’s a strong recipe to be able to win. Special teams have been strong.
“When you combine those things — and then you get consistency in those — that’s gonna give you the best chance to win here down the stretch.”
Added Boldy: “We know how we have to play, the style that suits us best to get points. A lot of guys in here doing it for each other, for the guy next to him, and I think that’s kind of the mindset pushing forward to kind of find that playoff spot.”
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.