LATEST NEWS: Wild must do this or else

Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) and defenseman Ryan Suter (20) talked before a first period face-off Sunday night in Chicago. ] JEFF WHEELER • jeff.wheeler@startribune.com The Minnesota Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks met in the second game of their NHL playoff series Sunday night, May 3, 2015 at United Center in Chicago.

The Wild (21-23-5) return after a 10-day break on Wednesday, seven points behind the eighth-place St. Louis Blues (26-21-2). After winning three consecutive games 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.We did not perform well in our last two games.But when you look at the goals that cost us,” said coach John Hynes on Saturday, “they were preventable. They are not amazing plays done by the opposing team. A particular lack of attention to detail ends up in the rear of your net. That is often the difference between winning and losing close games.

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The Wild will have a difficult second half of the season after failing to capitalise on a wonderful opportunity before the break. The Wild, who are seven points behind the Blues and the ninth-place Predators, might be three points behind Nashville right now if they hadn’t wasted their lead.

After opening 11-3 under Hynes, the Wild are 5-10-1 since Dec. 30 and have been outscored 42-23 in five-on-five play. According to MoneyPuck.com, the Wild’s playoff odds are just 2.3 percent as of February 1.

“If you wait long enough, you’re out,” veteran forward Mats Zuccarello explained. “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 have to play smarter.” We need to keep the puck out of the net first, and then the transition will occur.”

The Wild could be in a worse situation, however. Consider all of the adversity they’ve encountered this season, as well as the fact that they’re still in the playoff chase — albeit barely — despite a horrible period in January.

Whether it’s a coaching change, losing streaks, or injuries to their most essential players, the Wild have faced considerable challenges this season. The latter has been particularly worrisome. According to NHL Injury Viz, only three clubs have lost more wins above replacement due to injuries than the Wild (2.86): the Vegas Golden Knights (7.22), the Colorado Avalanche (4.28), and the Toronto Maple Leafs (3.79).

One thing is certain: the Wild face an urgent crisis, and their margin for mistake will be significantly narrower 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 went on to say.

“I believe there are some valuable lessons here from the last two games that cost us points and should have been handled, 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 certain situations, realising that that aspect of the game is vital, and they need

If the Wild want to make the playoffs for the sixth year in a row, they must find a team that has had back-to-back 100-point seasons.

“And that’s very weird,” Filip Gustavsson added. “We practically have the same personnel on the team, and it’s in there. It’s as if it’s locked behind a safe. We merely forgot about the combination right now.

“Some days it’s there; we play awesomely, we play well. And some days it’s simply nonexistent, so we can’t have those roller coaster nights. Because you get such great feelings in your body, everyone feels good and plays well. And then you have those bad games, and everything goes down the drain again, and that’s mentally difficult to do.”

 

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