DENVER — Over the past few games, the Minnesota Wild have gotten beaten by two desperate teams chasing them in the standings.
And if this latest funk continues, it won’t be long before Minnesota is fighting for its playoff life.
The Wild have lost three in a row, with the last two coming against the Utah Hockey Club and Colorado Avalanche, which pulled away for a 5-2 victory at Ball Arena on Friday night. Unlike Thursday, when the Wild were outcompeted, outskated and outclassed in many areas, Minnesota had a stronger start against the Avalanche and held a one-goal lead after the first period.
That’s when it all unraveled. Just a bunch of little mistakes that turned into a big loss.
The Avalanche are now tied with Minnesota for third in the Central, though the Wild have a game in hand.
“It’s hard to go through tough stretches,” veteran winger Mats Zuccarello said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. Because you start gripping your stick. You start trying to make the right plays and not making the plays you normally make because you want to do the right thing. And everything becomes wrong.
“It’s important to back each other up, stay positive and make the plays you make on a regular basis. Don’t change something. It’s going to come.”
The Wild’s margin for error was already slim due to injuries to Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, and Ryan Hartman still has one game left on his eight-game suspension. And with the trade deadline one week away, there’s no guarantee help is on the way. Minnesota could make a move, but any impactful deal would require getting cap space from a player like Eriksson Ek being put on regular-season-ending LTIR. Right now, Eriksson Ek is officially labeled “week to week.”
More injuries came Friday, with Zach Bogosian missing the game due to a lower-body injury and Jonas Brodin leaving after one shift in the third period. Wild coach John Hynes didn’t have an update on either but said it was too early to speculate whether they’d need a call-up for Sunday’s game against the Boston Bruins.
“It doesn’t matter who is in the lineup,” captain Jared Spurgeon said. “We have a system where we have to play it the closest to perfect as we can, no matter who is in the lineup, to give ourselves the best chance to win.”
What a pass 🤌#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/rNlpPernMB
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 1, 2025
The Wild’s one-goal lead was erased in 52 seconds midway through the second period when Jonathan Drouin and Jack Drury scored. The first came on an awkward change by the Wild, with Brock Faber initially looking like he was skating to the bench after a 1-minute, 38-second shift. But the Avalanche quickly transitioned on a slick stretch pass by Oliver Kylington that sailed past a retreating Faber and got to Drouin for the rush. Drury’s goal was an odd one, starting as an innocent three-on-three rush. But Cale Makar hustled to join and got a shot off. Drury put in a rebound after collecting the loose puck behind the net, and defenseman Declan Chisholm got caught behind Filip Gustavsson in the crease.
Hynes said that in the last two games, the Wild have “found numerous ways to beat ourselves.”
“Our group cares,” Hynes said. “We have a good team, and we’ve done well. In these two particular games, we didn’t have the mindset to play the game the right way consistently enough in the details of the game, and it cost us. It’s something we’ve talked about from day one. We want to be a competitive team, which we are in the way we work. But there are other parts of the game, there’s another level of that: managing the puck at critical times, not giving stressed attacks, line changes. Look at tonight’s game. All those things occurred, and the puck ended up in the back of our net.”
The turning point
The Wild played well in the first 20-plus minutes. They were a lot more connected than they were in Thursday’s loss to Utah. They were cleaner exiting their zone. And Minnesota took a 2-1 lead after the first thanks to a power-play goal by Vinnie Hinostroza. But the wheels came off in the second period, when the Avalanche dominated. Colorado outshot the Wild 14-5 in that period and scored three unanswered goals to pull away. That included two goals in 52 seconds, with Drouin and Drury each converting. There was one point when the Avalanche had the Wild pinned in for a long shift, with Jake Middleton’s lasting 3 minutes, 2 seconds.
Off to the races!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/WK4tgKeNHx
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 1, 2025
“They were quicker in transitions, it felt like,” Gustavsson said. “They came in on three-on-twos and four-on-threes. They were just all over us. When you get stuck in your own zone in the second period, it’s tough, especially for the D-men to get stuck around for a very long time. They took advantage of it.”
The Wild have been the league’s best road team for most of the season but have lost four of their last five away from home. That includes three games in which they’ve allowed five or more goals.
“We’re going to look at the trouble we had this game and yesterday on why they gained so easy offense on us,” Gustavsson said. “Earlier in the year and prior, we had been great in limiting their chances, the opposite team. Now it feels like we’re just opening up and giving ice and time and stuff like that. We just have to tighten up, because right now we’re not scoring five or six goals every game, so we can’t let in more than three.”
Banged-up blue line
The night started with Bogosian out with a lower-body injury, with the team considering him day to day. It got worse, as Brodin played just one shift in the third period before heading down the tunnel. Brodin had taken a shot from Martin Necas on the right knee/leg earlier in the game but appeared to play through it. If neither Brodin nor Bogosian can play Sunday, the Wild could call up a defenseman like David Jiricek or Carson Lambos from AHL Iowa. Hynes had already switched up the pairs before the game, putting Faber with Brodin and Middleton with Spurgeon.
Where’s the offense?
You knew it’d be a challenge offensively without Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek and Hartman, who has one game left on his eight-game suspension. But Minnesota has sputtered of late, scoring a combined three goals over its past eight periods, dating back to its home game against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. The Wild have gotten an unexpected scoring boost from Hinostroza, who has three goals in his six games with Minnesota since getting claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators. But there hasn’t been enough production in recent games. The Wild even had back-to-back power plays in the third period but struggled to muster a shot attempt during them. The injuries are no excuse, but it’s a reality they’ll have to overcome.
“We have no choice,” Zuccarello said. “We’re missing some really important guys on our team. But that’s the reality of it. We have to find a way in here. I don’t think we’re getting out-battled. Everyone works hard. It’s making the plays. Hitting each other in stride. Making each other a little better out there. It was way better today than yesterday. But I think today we made some mistakes as a team, and it cost us.”
(Photo of Filip Gustavsson: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
