Wild look forward to a new start after March malaise
Flipping the calendar to a new page worked well once already for the Minnesota Wild this season. After winning just three of their first dozen games in October, the Wild went on an 11-1-2 tear in November and forcefully established themselves as a top-five team in the NHL. As they ease into April after a rare four-day break in the schedule, the Wild remain optimistic that flipping the calendar past a March malaise will be a good step forward for a team that has gone a pedestrian 4-5-2 in its past 11 games.
After what they admitted was a 40-minute effort in a 6-3 road loss to the Bruins on Saturday, more than one player told reporters inside the quiet visitors locker room at TD Garden that the break provided an opportunity to begin anew. “We’re one of the best teams in the league. We’re one of the most consistent teams in the league, and I think, obviously, this is a stretch where, yeah, things aren’t going our way,” defenseman Brock Faber said.
“But we’re also not playing quite as good as we’re capable, but that’s part of it. We’re just trying to get ‘clinched’ next to our name, and from there build our way up to real playoff-style hockey and ramp up for who knows who we’re playing, most likely Dallas. ” A win in Boston would have secured a playoff spot for the Wild, as will a win on Thursday when they’re host to Vancouver — the NHL’s worst team by record.
By contrast, the Wild clinched their 2025 playoff berth in the final half-minute of game 82. However it happens, securing a playoff spot will mark the first of many season goals for a team whose potential has not equaled results in the past few weeks. “We’ve got some games here to kind of find our groove and feel good.
First we’ve got to try and clinch, and then after that we can go from there. I don’t think we’ve played our best,” Wild forward Mats Zuccarello said after scoring a goal in Boston that kick-started a brief comeback effort. “We just have to try and clinch here and play a little bit better, and hopefully we can get a good feeling going into the playoffs.