ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild could be in a much better position right now.
The Wild (21-23-5) return from their 10-day break on Wednesday seven points behind the eighth-place St. Louis Blues (26-21-2). After winning three games in a row over the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals — three teams ahead of them in the standings — the Wild blew one-goal leads in their 3-2 losses to the Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks on Thursday and Saturday, respectively, in the final two games before the break.
“The last two games we didn't execute as well as we needed to…but when you look at the goals that cost us,” coach John Hynes said Saturday, “they're preventable. They’re not great plays that are made by the other team. There’s a specific lack of attention to detail that winds up in the back of your net. That’s the difference a lot of times between winning and losing tight games.”
The Wild find themselves in an uphill battle in the second half of the season because they failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity ahead of them before the break. The Wild, who sit seven points back of both the Blues and ninth-place Predators, could be three points behind Nashville right now had they not blown that lead.
After starting 11-3 under Hynes, the Wild have gone 5-10-1 since Dec. 30 and have been outscored 42-23 at five-on-five during that span. As of Feb. 1, the Wild’s playoff odds are at a lowly 2.3 percent, according to MoneyPuck.com.
“If you wait long enough, you’re out,” veteran forward Mats Zuccarello said. “I wish I had a really good answer for what we need, but I think the easiest way to put it right now is you feel like you have a play, and then you give up a goal, another one, a breakaway … we’ve gotta play smarter. We’ve got to keep the puck out of the net first and then the transition is gonna come.”
The Wild could be in a worse spot, though. Consider all the adversity they have faced so far this season and the fact they’re still in the playoff race — albeit hanging on for dear life — despite the brutal stretch in January.
Whether it’s the coaching change, the losing streaks or the injuries to their most important players, the Wild have experienced significant adversity this season. The latter has been especially troubling. According to NHL Injury Viz, only three teams have lost more wins above replacement due to injuries than the Wild (2.86) — the Vegas Golden Knights (7.22), Colorado Avalanche (4.28) and Toronto Maple Leafs (3.79).
The one thing for certain is the Wild have an urgent situation ahead of them and their margin for error gets even smaller when they return from break.
“When we get back, obviously we all know the shorter the season gets, the more urgent you need to get points particularly in our situation,” Hynes said.
“I think there’s some valuable lessons here in the last two games that cost us points and lots of times that need to be addressed but we didn’t get away with it. That’s where the learning has to come in and not just the learning, (but) the action when we’re called upon in those situations, understanding that that part of the game in those situations are critical, and they need to be executed at the right time.”
If the Wild are going to make the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season, they have to find the team that put up back-to-back 100-point seasons.
“And that's very weird,” Filip Gustavsson said. “Like we almost have the same personnel within the team, and it's in there. It's like it's locked behind the safe or something. We just have forgot about the combination right now.
“It’s some days it's there, we play awesome, we play great. And some days it's just nonexistent, and we can't have those roller coaster nights. Because you get those nice feelings in your body, everyone feels good, everyone plays good. And then you have those terrible games and everything's down to drain again, and it's mentally tough to do that.”
Zuccarello added: “We just have to play smarter. We can’t give up easy goals against and breakaways and two-on-ones. We’ve gotta be a hard team to play against. People have to earn their chances against us, and right now, this year, we’re giving up too easy chances against and goals.”
While the Wild didn’t make the most of their opportunity before the break against the Predators, they know there will be more chances to gain ground on teams in front of them. In fact, their first opportunity is on Feb. 14 against the Arizona Coyotes.
“We are going to get more opportunities and more cracks at it to keep climbing and chasing the teams that we’re behind,” Zach Bogosian said. “But at the end of the day, we obviously have to get those two points. There’s really not more to say other than it’s an unfortunate way to lose, especially at home.”