Joel Eriksson Ek on pace for a monster season These next five games for the Wild could be a make or break situation when it comes to playoffs or not. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA0NTU3NjIyMzQ1NDc2MDI1/usatsi_22005894.jpg] These next five games for the Wild could be a make or break situation when it comes to playoffs or not. So far this season the Wild are 0-7 against the top three teams in the Central Division. Which is alarming but yet the Wild still find themselves only four points out of a playoff spot. The St. Louis Blues currently hold onto the last playoff spot in the Western Conference and are sitting at 62 points with 26 games left in the season. The Wild are only four points behind them but there are three teams in between the Wild and the Blues. The Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, and Calgary Flames are ahead of the Wild and all within three points of the Blues. The Wild play the Edmonton Oilers tonight and the Kraken tomorrow. They then play the Carolina Hurricanes at home and the Predators and Blues on the road. So four of the next five games are against Western Conference teams and three of them are teams that the Wild are chasing in the standings. Yeah, they're huge," Freddy Gaudreau told The Hockey News on these next five games. "We don't focus on five games ahead. We go one game at a time, take care of the business, focus on just the next game, and from there we keep going with that same mindset. I think that's the best way to move forward and give ourselves the best chance to get big points." Considering the Wild haven't won a game against either of the top three teams in their division, they need to get as many points as they can against other Western Conference teams and what better way to do that then in these next five games. It starts tonight in Edmonton. 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. RELATED
