We’ve officially entered the home stretch of the regular season and despite trying their darndest to play with their food the Minnesota Wild are very much in a position to overtake Dallas and claim the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed.
There have been plenty of missed opportunities over the last few weeks for the Wild to gain ground on Dallas. Minnesota still has one critical matchup against the Stars scheduled for next week, and there’s a good chance it’ll be for all of the marbles — and also home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
ones ice is why passing Dallas is so important. We can litigate and moan about the dumb playoff structure all we want but the fact of the matter is this: two of the top two teams in the league will play each other in the first round and neither one wants to have that be a road series.
How close are the Wild to catching Dallas for the No. 2 seed in the NHL Playoff picture?
It’s not exactly an easy path for the Wild but it’s also not an overly complicated one. The clearest path for Minnesota lies in the lead up to Thursday’s game against the Stars; if the Wild can beat win their next three games then they’d head to Dallas with 102 points.
What the Wild need is a little harder, which is help from a bad team. Dallas plays Colorado on Saturday, which tips the needle more toward Minnesota’s favor but it’d also need help from Calgary. That’s so the Stars play between Saturday and Thursday but if the Flames can play spoiler and pull off an upset, then both Dallas and Minnesota would meet each other with 102 points.
In that scenario, the winner would control the No. 2 with just a week of hockey left.
Minnesota Wild Remaining Games (102 points, 3 games remaining)
*Updated April 8th*
Date | Game | Result |
|---|---|---|
Thur., 4/2 | vs. Vancouver Canucks | W, 5-2 (96 pts) |
Sat., 4/4 | at Ottawa Senators | W, 4-1 (98 pts) |
Sun., 4/5 | at Detroit Red Wings | W, 5-4 (100 pts) |
Tue., 4/7 | vs. Seattle Kraken | W, 5-2 (102 pts) |
Thur., 4/9 | at Dallas Stars | L, 5-4 (102 pts) |
Sat., 4/11 | at Nashville Predators | |
Mon., 4/13 | at St. Louis Blues | |
Tue., 4/14 | vs. Anaheim Ducks |
Dallas Stars Remaining Games (104 points, 3 games remaining)
Date | Game | Result |
|---|---|---|
Tue., 3/31 | at Boston Bruins | L, 6-3 (100 pts) |
Thur., 4/2 | vs. Winnipeg Jets | W, 3-0 (102 pts) |
Sat., 4/4 | vs. Colorado Avalanche | L, 2-0 (102 pts) |
Tue., 4/7 | vs. Calgary Flames | W, 4-3/OT (104 pts) |
Thur., 4/9 | vs. Minnesota Wild | W, 5-4 (106 pts) |
Sat., 4/11 | vs. New York Rangers | |
Mon., 4/13 | at Toronto Maple Leafs | |
Wed., 4/15 | at Buffalo Sabres |
It's important to note that Dallas owns the tiebreaker, so the Wild will need at least three points in four games to catch the Stars and pass them. Still, even without that, as long as Minnesota finishes strong it'll send a message and set the right tone heading into the playoffs.
We all know how pitiful and painful it’s been to watch the Wild ope thier way out of the playoffs in the first round for over a decade, and a matchup against the Stars doesn’t exactly bode well for that streak to break. But if the Wild can catch Dallas and not only take home ice but serious momentum into that series, then things might finally turn out differently.
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