Wild Blog: Wild Week Ahead For Minnesota
by Craig D. Schroepfer, @CDSWCCO
We are entering the final week of the regular season in the NHL and the Minnesota Wild is looking to lock up another post-season berth.
Right now Minnesota currently holds the first wild card spot in the Western Conference with 96 points. With four games left to play in the season, any combination of picking up two points (wins or overtime/shootout losses) should be enough to clinch a playoff berth. And with four of those games coming against Central Division teams, the Wild will have a say of who else makes the playoffs and what the match-ups could be.
Winnipeg Jets: Minnesota plays its final regular season game Monday night at the Xcel Energy Center and it's significant, because the Winnipeg Jets are the only team on the outside of the playoff picture that can pass the Wild in the standings.
Winnipeg is tied with Los Angeles for the second wild card spot with 92 points, but the Kings have the tiebreaker, which means that if the playoffs started today the Jets would miss the post-season.
The only way Winnipeg can pass Minnesota in the standings is if they win their final four games (at Minnesota, St. Louis, Colorado & home versus Calgary) and the Wild lose their final four games.
A Minnesota victory Monday night in regulation not only means a playoff berth for the Wild, but keeps a division rival on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
Chicago Blackhawks: While Minnesota currently holds the first wild card spot, the best they can finish overall is third in the Central Division. And to do that the Wild will have to pass Tuesday's opponent in the standings, the Chicago Blackhawks.
Chicago sits in third place in the Central Division with 102 points and have three games remaining on the season (home versus Minnesota, at St. Louis and at Colorado).
The same scenario that's in play for Winnipeg Monday night is in play for Minnesota as well. If they want to pass Chicago in the standings, the Wild need to win out and the Blackhawks need to lose out for Minnesota to finish in third place in the Central.
It's a long shot to happen and may not even be possible depending on how Monday's game against Winnipeg goes, but as long as it's mathematically possible, Wild fans can't rule out the possibility of finishing in third place.
Nashville Predators: Going into Thursday's game at Nashville, Minnesota should know where it stands in the playoff race. What's important about this game with the Predators is that it could be a playoff preview.
Nashville currently sits in second place in the Central Division with 104 points, one behind St. Louis and two in front of Chicago. The Predators have three games remaining on the season (at Colorado, versus Minnesota and at Dallas).
The road team has won each game in the season series, with Nashville picking up wins in St. Paul on Dec. 20 (6-5 in OT) and three weeks later on Jan. 10 (3-1).
It should be noted that the wins by the Predators came before Minnesota acquired Devan Dubnyk to play goaltender. With Dubnyk in net, the Wild picked up victories in Nashville on Feb. 26 (4-2) and on March 17 (3-2 in OT). Just something to keep in mind when watching this game.
St. Louis Blues: If Nashville doesn't end up being the playoff opponent for Minnesota, then the final game of the regular season against St. Louis could be the first of potentially eight straight games with the Blues and Wild playing against each other.
St. Louis is currently in first place in the Central Division after a 2-1 win over Chicago on Sunday. The Blues are the one team that controls their own destiny, having three games remaining on the season, all of them at home versus Winnipeg, Chicago and Minnesota.
These teams last played each other back in March, with Minnesota picking up a 3-1 win in St. Louis in a game that some Wild players said they stole from the Blues. Seven days later in St. Paul, Minnesota outplayed St. Louis, picking up a convincing 6-3 win in the process.
With four games in six days there are plenty of possibilities in play for Minnesota. While we don't know right now who or where the Wild will play in the playoffs, the probability of them missing the post-season is slim.
What we do know is that Minnesota will have a direct say as to how the race in the Central Division will play out.
