How’s this for a predicament: The Wild are better when they’re behind, when they have no choice but to adopt a back-to-basics style that funnels pucks and people to the net.
But they’re still not ultimately successful because of that aforementioned deficit, their comebacks petering out before completion.
Another close call happened on Thursday when the Wild twice clawed back within a goal before fading 5-3 to the Devils at Xcel Energy Center to get swept in this home-and-home series and drop a season-high fourth straight game.
“We play really good at the end of the game,” Marco Rossi said. “That’s how we should start the game.”
Overall, they’re 3-5-2 with just one win in their last seven contests.
“It’s time to figure it out,” Kirill Kaprizov said.
After their rally fizzled into a 4-3 loss at New Jersey on Sunday, a similar blueprint followed the Wild home.
This time, they didn’t start retaliating until they sunk into a 3-0 hole: The Devils scored 3 minutes, 20 seconds after puck drop (Alexander Holtz), with 4:37 left in the first period (Michael McLeod) and then on the power play just 2:31 into the second (Timo Meier).
“Wonderful that we played hard at some point tonight,” coach Dean Evason said. “But it’s not good enough.”
The spark?
An overhaul to the lineup, with Evason breaking up Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello — what he described as a wakeup call to the team.
“We shouldn’t have to shake the lines up to get some life in our group,” said Evason, who mentioned he was “shocked” by the Wild’s start after two days off and a workmanlike practice Wednesday. “The life should be in our group already.”
Kaprizov solved New Jersey goaltender Vitek Vanecek (22 saves) first on a less-is-more play by the power play, quickly flinging a puck on net while Vanecek was screened to snap his five-game goalless drought at 9:03 of the second.
Then 1:10 into the third, his new-look line with Rossi and Matt Boldy (who was back after missing seven games with an upper-body injury) delivered. Rossi capitalized on a loose puck while perched in front of the net for his fourth goal of the season, tied for the most among NHL rookies.
“We just have to keep it simple,” Rossi said. “We try to think too much. When you don’t score, that’s the worst thing when you start to think because then you want to do too much and that’s sometimes not good.
“You just have to keep it simple and bring the puck to the net and be ready for that.”
But penalty trouble sabotaged the Wild, twice.
Jesper Bratt’s one-timer reinstated the Devils’ two-goal lead at 15:36 and then after Jake Middleton responded only 51 seconds later, a pair of late penalties by Boldy and Kaprizov put New Jersey in a 5-on-3 setup and Dougie Hamilton converted. The Devils’ top-ranked power play finished 3-for-5, and the Wild went 1-for-2. Goalie Filip Gustavsson had 33 saves.
In the two-game set vs. New Jersey, the Wild surrendered five goals in eight shorthanded situations.
“It just seems like every shot is going in the net,” Evason said. “Every opportunity that we have for a clear we don’t do it. Every chance we have to box a guy out we don’t do it. Our goaltenders are getting screened.”
Still, the vibe among the Wild was that they would close the gap on the Devils.
Instead, their funk continues to fester, and the Wild’s schedule isn’t easing up: they’ll face an 8-2-0 Rangers squad twice in their next three games.
“If you’re not confident, then don’t go on the ice,” Evason said. “If you don’t want to play, then don’t play. But we want guys that will play. We’ve been resilient in that room in the past. We expect our group to be resilient again.”