The Wild’s phenomenal surge after a rough start to the season — fueled in part by the acquisition of Quinn Hughes — essentially has assured them of a playoff spot since the Olympic break began in early February. The only question was which of the top three spots in the Central Division the Wild would grab.
That security has provided the Wild with the ability to play late-season games without the threat of a loss knocking them from the playoff picture. That should be a positive — unless that security impacts intensity.
Too often that seems to have become the case with a Wild team that has only eight regular-season games remaining, and needs to realize that the belief it can flip a switch on the opening night of the playoffs is a recipe for elimination.
The latest example came in the Wild’s 6-3 loss to the Bruins on Saturday in Boston. Minnesota entered the game with a chance to clinch a playoff berth, but the Bruins, who are in the midst of a tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference, scored 1 minute, 1 second into the first period and led 2-0 after one. That was the Wild’s NHL-leading 12th scoreless first period since the Olympics, according to Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News.
The Wild entered the Olympic hiatus on a five-game winning streak and having won eight of 10. That put them second in the Central Division with 78 points — one ahead of the Dallas Stars and five behind the Colorado Avalanche. The Wild also were tied with Carolina and Tampa Bay for second place in the NHL.
A three-goal victory at Colorado in their first game back after the break appeared to indicate the Wild would pick up where they left off. Only that hasn’t been the case. The Wild are 6-7-2 since that win and have won only three of their past nine games.
Minnesota is in third place in the Central — five points behind second-place Dallas and 12 points behind Colorado — and almost certainly will face Dallas in the opening round as it attempts to win a playoff series for the first time since 2015.
There will be complaints about a playoff format that calls for two of the best teams in the league — Dallas is second and the Wild are sixth in the NHL — but Minnesota needs to begin playing more complete and attention-to-detail hockey no matter who they face.
In a season in which the NHL schedule has been incredibly condensed because of the multi-week Olympic break, the Wild will receive a gift from the schedule-makers this week. After playing in Boston on Saturday, the Wild won’t play again until facing Vancouver on Thursday night in St. Paul.
That means four days to rest and, just as importantly, mix in practice time during which coach John Hynes can reset his team. That might be why Hynes sounded far less annoyed after Saturday’s loss than he did after back-to-back losses to the Rangers and Maple Leafs two weeks ago.