This is new territory for the Minnesota Wild. No, not the part where the wheels completely fall off for a long stretch of time. This group has gone through that plenty of times over the years. Nothing new there.
What’s new is clinching a playoff spot so early.
It’s new to perform so well for most of the season that the final stretch of the season doesn’t come with any motivation. The Wild are not going to catch Chicago for first place in the Central Division. It would take a colossal failure to drop out of second place, something they’re giving the old college try.
It’s a weird kind of adversity for the Wild, if you can call it that. They have a comfortable spot in the standings, and just need the playoffs to begin.
And, as is often the case with this group, they’re not handling adversity particularly well.
Sunday’s loss in Detroit was Minnesota’s 11th loss in 14 games in March. It was the Wild’s fourth consecutive loss to a team that won’t make the playoffs.
“For us, it’s a scenario in the last four years we’ve been scrambling just to get in,” said Wild forward Zach Parise. “Now, it’s almost as if we had such a comfortable lead we threw it into cruise control for a little bit. Now, there’s different parts of our game that are lacking. It’s a different scenario than it has been.”
The question becomes whether or not the end result is the same. Once a team gets in cruise control, it’s hard to suddenly shift into high gear for Game 1 of the playoffs.
For a point of reference, Parise’s New Jersey Devils that advanced to the 2012 Stanley Cup finals had a March record of 9-5-2, but turned it on with a six-game win streak to close out the regular season.
Sitting a few seats down from Parise, and talking about the disappointment of losing another game, Eric Staal can provide another perspective. The year his Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup, they limped into the playoffs with one win in the final five games. In March of that season, Carolina was 9-5-2. Same as Parise’s Devils.
Historical data has suggested that the last five games of a regular season don’t seem to impact playoff performance much, but the final 10 games start to give a better indication of how a team will perform in the postseason.
So if the Wild are waiting for the last couple games to get truly tuned in, it might be too late. That’s really a better time for resting players and getting healthy than it is to try and find consistency.
The Wild lost on Sunday, but players liked the game enough that it’s something to build off.
“[It] was an effort where we believe in where we’re headed,” Staal said. “It’s been a grind here a little bit.”
Nine more takeaways from the weekend of NHL action:
2. Transitioning to playoff mode
We make a big deal out of how a team is performing right now, because what else are we going to talk about? But Staal said that once a playoff series starts, it’s almost like a reset button is hit.
“I don’t think you can be totally off the face of a cliff going in, but at the same time, it’s totally refreshed,” Staal said. “Playoffs start, it’s a series, you just have to beat a team four times or not get beat four times. That’s your main focus. You narrow in. That restarts. You can be as good as you are all season, but a playoff series is a playoff series.”
3. Diagnosing the problems for the Wild
So what’s the biggest issue with the Wild? For starters, it’s hard to win games without consistent goaltending. Since March 1, the Wild’s even-strength save percentage is at .897. That’s Colorado Avalanche territory.
But Parise said there’s more than one problem dogging the Wild right now.
“It’s different every game,” he said. “Right now, it’s tough to pinpoint one thing.”
4. Hanzal remains a work in progress
There’s also been the problem of assimilating Martin Hanzal into the lineup. Overtime in Detroit pushed his ice time over 16 minutes, but he’s still down considerably from the 18:35 he averaged with the Coyotes. That’s not an easy adjustment. He was being asked to be the No. 1 center in Arizona, and that’s not the case with the Wild.
With one goal in 13 games and looking slow at times, it hasn’t gone well for Hanzal in the regular season, but that was a trade made with the playoffs in mind. The evaluation will wait.
5. Not the first traded player to struggle
During a recent conversation about what it was like to join a team and not light things up right away, former NHL player Stu Barnes said he got plenty of reminders about his initial struggles when joining the Sabres.
He scored 20 goals in 64 games for the Penguins in 1999 before being acquired by Buffalo. He went 17 games without a goal for the Sabres heading into the playoffs.
“You’d see someone on the street and you’re the new guy from the Sabres. Fans are like, ‘Welcome to town, when are you going to score?’” Barnes said, laughing.
6. Once the floodgate breaks ...
Barnes is a good example of jumping to conclusions about a deadline deal. He put up a zero in the goals column during the regular season for the Sabres after the trade, and then went on to score seven goals in 21 games during the Sabres' run to the Stanley Cup finals. He led the league that postseason with four power-play goals.
“When you do [start scoring], you’re more relieved than excited,” he said.
7. Here comes Keller
Clayton Keller may have been the best player not playing in the NHL this season, and that changes tonight. In talking with reporters on Monday, Coyotes coach Dave Tippett wouldn’t come out and say Keller would make his NHL debut in St. Louis, but according to a Coyotes source, it’s safe to assume he’s in.
Keller signed with the Coyotes following Boston University’s loss this weekend, and gives Coyotes fans a glimpse of what’s coming.
“It’ll be a real challenge for him,” Tippett told reporters. “But his skill level is off the charts.”
8. Getting a head start
Why sign Keller now?
These final games will help give him a taste of how tough it is to succeed in the NHL, and what he needs to focus on during the summer. He has now emerged as the Coyotes' most important prospect, and they need him to be a Calder Trophy candidate next season if they’re going to turn things around in the desert. Every incremental advantage helps the case.
“I just speak from personal experience, when I first came to the NHL, I played 17 games one year after the Olympics,” Tippett said. “I remember looking back and thinking how much that helped me going into training camp next year. You know how everything is done.”
9. NHL players skipping world championships?
A tweet from agent Allan Walsh suggested that the use of replacement players in USA Hockey in the upcoming women’s world championships may lead to a boycott of the men’s world championships by NHL players.
The NHL players have been unanimous in their support of the women, including a release from the NHLPA, but if there’s an organized boycott coming, it hadn’t reached several of the NHL candidates to play in the worlds when contacted on Sunday.
Of multiple American NHL players reached over the weekend from non-playoff teams, none had heard of an organized boycott. If there is a boycott percolating, it may be in the early stages.
10. Makeup of the roster matters
NHL American stars typically look for any excuse to skip the world championships anyway, so a boycott may end up being the perfect opportunity. They can bail on the Worlds like they always do, and look good doing it.
USA Hockey typically relies on its younger players to fill out the roster, including many who haven’t reached the NHL yet. The 2016 Team USA world championships roster had guys like Steven Santini, David Warsofsky, Vinnie Hinostroza, Miles Wood and Frank Vatrano.
One roster candidate said he hasn’t heard of a boycott, but the women’s situation has definitely been a topic of conversation among NHL players.
“There’s been talk around the locker room about our support for them,” he texted on Sunday.