ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild (15-13-4) are aiming to pick up where they left off and extend their win streak to four games when they host the Detroit Red Wings (16-14-4) Wednesday night.
The Wild are 10-3-0 under coach John Hynes and have won six of their past seven games. The Wild have had the past three days off and are hoping to continue their momentum tonight against the Red Wings with the holiday break in the rearview mirror.
The Wild finish the calendar year with a home and home against the rival Winnipeg Jets on Saturday and Sunday.
“We gotta get that competitive mindset right back to where it was,” Hynes said after morning skate on Wednesday. “The break’s great, (and) I think it was a good time for us to rest and recover, and I think mentally, guys get back.
“I really liked our energy this morning, but you got to get right back into that competitive mindset of what it takes to win in the NHL night-in and night-out.”
The Wild are coming off arguably their best week of the season thus far, where they won three straight after a 4-3 loss to the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
The Wild responded well to the loss by beating the Boston Bruins 4-3 last Tuesday to finish the road trip. Then the Wild returned home where they earned 4-3 and 3-2 victories over the Montreal Canadiens and Bruins, respectively, on Thursday and Saturday to go into the holiday break on a strong note.
What the Wild are doing right now is remarkable and speaks to their depth considering they haven’t had Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Mats Zuccarello or Ryan Hartman in the lineup during this win streak due to injury. While Hartman is returning tonight against Detroit, the other three remain out.
“This is a hurt lineup, but at the same time, this is the character we have,” Marcus Foligno said after Thursday’s win over Montreal. “We’re deep and we have character guys that want to play the right way, and John has us with the right message and identity. To win games like this without the star players — it’s huge for us…(and) the character in this room is showing right now.”
The Wild, who started the season 5-10-4, know what they’re up against — but they also know their play under Hynes has turned their season around.
“We’re trying to catch up in the standings, so it’s like extra, extra work, and then mentally a little bit of fatigue,” Foligno said Saturday. “So, to be going into the break with…the consistency we’ve been getting has been nice.
“We’ve just got to keep it rolling when we come back.”
Added Zach Bogosian: “Things obviously weren’t going our way and now they are, and you just gotta keep riding that wave and stay on top of that a little bit. … I just think we gotta make sure we’re cognitive of where we’re at right now and we can’t be satisfied. We have to keep pushing forward.”
For the first time since Oct. 28, after starting the season 3-3-2, the Wild can slide into a playoff spot if they win tonight and both the Arizona Coyotes and St. Louis Blues lose in regulation.
“It's not just a new coach coming in and everything changes,” Hynes said Saturday, adding that it’s been “a pleasure” to coach the team. “There was so much good here. And I'm just glad for everybody that's been involved and went through the tough times that we've kind of got ourselves going in the right direction and now we gotta continue to push forward. A lot of hockey left.
“A lot of the season left to play, but we’ve got a foundation we can build off of and that's the most important thing.”