One night after napping in Nashville, the Wild destructed in Dallas. After going goalless at the Grand Ole Opry, the men from Minny went scoreless in the Southwest. After two nights of frustrating hockey, the least we can get is some sweet alliteration, right?
To state that Minnesota’s playoff chances took a massive hit over the past two nights would be like saying that George Costanza is a little paranoid. Two days after heading out on the road with a real chance to close the gap on the top eight through direct competition, the battered Wild are beginning to look like the next exit on the draft lottery freeway, just past St. Louis street, Columbus Circle and Cul-de-sac-de Colorado.
Sorry, those weren’t as good.
Two games with no goals at the absolute worst time, and the Wild find themselves in 11th place, four points out of the top eight. Worse yet, the games in hand that they had on all the playoff teams three weeks ago have disappeared with nothing to show for them.
The offensive offense is most troubling. Though the Wild dominated most of the second period in terms of zone time on Friday, they couldn’t seem to find their aim; missing the net at every opportunity (they finished the game with a paltry 14 shots on goal). Then came the soul-crushing ninety seconds in which Kyle Brodziak scored on his own net, followed by Tom Wandell’s seeing-eye goal through four legs and capped off by Matt Cullen’s head-scratching centering pass right to Mike Ribeiro. 4-0, game over.
Of course Friday night was actually an improvement from Thursday’s trip to Nashville, in which the Wild simply failed to arrive in time for the game. They finished with 19 shots, but just nine through the first two periods. Too little, too late for a team that is now 8-26-2 when they give up the first goal.
So with a weekend and a long flight to Vancouver to think about what lies ahead, the Wild find themselves at yet another season crossroads. In one direction, they face a miracle run just to stay relevant in the playoff race. All other roads lead directly back to the Xcel Energy Center, where the Wild will host the draft in June. At this rate, they’ll be picking much higher than they would have liked, and they’ll be searching for scoring in St. Paul.
Ok that's the last one. I promise.
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