Mason Shaw skates in his first Wild practice this year. Feb 27, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (11) scores a goal passed Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) during the first period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA0NjU3ODA5NDM2OTc2NzIw/usatsi_22638668.jpg] Feb 27, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (11) scores a goal passed Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) during the first period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports The Minnesota Wild's 6-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night propelled them to within two points of the Nashville Predators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the West. Just three days later, the Wild now sit six points behind the Predators after a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes inside Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday. It’s the byproduct of Nashville winning both on Sunday and Tuesday, extending their win streak to six games — while the Wild faced another setback by falling to the Hurricanes Tuesday at such a critical time of the season. “Yeah, they definitely do (sting a little more),” Declan Chisholm said. “Hynesy just said something very valuable that we can't get too low on losses here and we can't get too high on wins. It's an emotional time for sure. We gotta play the long game and just stick with it.” “We’ve got a lot of games left, and we can’t get down after one game,” said Jonas Brodin, who scored Tuesday night along with Connor Dewar. “We’ve got a lot of important games coming up.” To make matters worse, the Wild blew another one-goal lead Tuesday, just like they did in three out of their previous four losses dating back to Jan. 25. Despite a 7-2-1 stretch — 15 out of a possible 20 points — since the All-Star break, the Wild are just about back where they started. The Wild came out of the break seven points behind the second wild-card spot, and now they’re behind by six. All the ground they made up by winning seven out of their first nine games out of the break was simply erased in three days by a loss and two Nashville wins. The Wild face the Predators Thursday in Nashville in what is arguably their most important game yet with a four-point swing on the line if the game is decided in regulation. The Wild know their situation and what's on the line. “Huge. Huge. We're all looking forward to that,” Chisholm said of Thursday. “This is behind us now and that's the next goal. We're working towards that now.” When asked if Thursday's tilt in Nashville feels season-defining, coach John Hynes said “no.” “We said we needed to get 15 points in this 10-game segment. We got 15. We got a new 10-game segment coming up. I think this time of year you gotta be a little leery of getting into like this is the biggest game of the year,” Hynes said. “It’s an emotional time of the year. Every game matters, but it’s not like we’re at Game 72 or 73 right now. … We’re going to play Nashville, that’s a big game. We’re going to play St. Louis, that’s a big game. So we can have this same discussion after every game. “But I think it’s important that we’re going into the next 10-game segment we got to hit our goals and if we do, we’re going to continue to – I think the teams that have the mentality that you’re going to get ready for every game the right way and you’re going to play it, that a game like tonight we could have easily won the game. But we didn’t win it, so now we gotta go into Nashville and we gotta bring our best effort there. “Then after the Nashville win or lose, we’re going to say St. Louis is the biggest game. They’re all big. I think it’s just steady on the rudder, making sure that we’re taking care of our own business. And this is what down the stretch hockey is. You’re playing meaningful games, and all of them count the same.” Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/] for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more REQUIRED READING
