There might be eight games left in the regular season, but the Minnesota Wild are looking well beyond that. For the first time in a long time, they have a roster talented enough on paper to make a deep playoff run.
The only problem is they don't look like it on the ice right now.
Sunday was yet another hiccup for a team that should be finding its groove. Instead, the Wild looked completely outmatched and got out-hustled by a hungry Bruins team fighting for its playoff life. It showed, with Boston dominating the Wild so ferociously at one point that Minnesota failed to clear the puck despite the Bruins going through three full shift cycles.
Brock Faber is well aware of the fact that Minnesota needs to get serious before it's too late, and sent the exact right message that the team needs to hear heading into the home stretch of the regular season.
Brock Faber says exactly what the Wild need to hear with playoff hockey right around the corner
“We’re one of the best teams in the league, we’re one of the more consistent teams in the league,” Faber said, via The Athletic. “This is a stretch where things aren’t going our way but we’re not playing quite as good as we’re capable. 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.”
Minnesota punching a playoff ticket feels like a foregone conclusion, but how long they end up lasting is an entirely different story. The Wild have lost six of their last ten games and are concerningly inconsistent; over the course of three games, Minnesota lost to the hapless Blackhawks at home, beat the Stars in overtime, then blew a two-goal lead in Tampa in a 6-3 loss.
That's a good way to setup an early playoff exit, something Wild fans are sick of seeing. It's one thing to have watched it in the past, but if this roster with this sort of talent lays a dud in the postseason, it'll feel even worse.
Making matters more stressful is that all roads lead to a first-round matchup against Dallas. It's a collision course that will pit two of the top three teams in the Western Conference bracket against each other, and a familiar situation for the Wild where a first-round exit feels very much on the table.
That's where, to Faber's point, the vibes can and should shift. This isn't the same Wild team we've watched before so there's no reason for it to limp into the postseason the same way. Minnesota shouldn't just be concerned with clinching, it should have eyes on the prize of catching Dallas and flipping home ice advantage in that first-round showdown.
With eight games left and only six points separating Minnesota and Dallas -- plus one more game between the two next week -- there's plenty of time for the Wild to flip the script. We've seen them go on heaters this season, and there's no better time than the present to kick things into another gear and set the right tone before playoff hockey arrives.