Wild Can Clinch Playoff Spot With Monday Win
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Mikko Koivu will be back in the Wild lineup Monday night after missing Saturday's game with a scratched eye.
He might have had poor vision for a day or two, but he didn't lose focus. Koivu can clearly see the big picture.
"Our goal is to get better as a team towards the end of the season," he said. "We do recognize that if we win, we clinch the playoff spot, which would be nice. But in order to do that, we've got to play a real good hockey game."
It's simple for the Wild Monday night: Win -- in regulation or overtime -- and they're in the playoffs, clinching a wild card spot.
But that's not their biggest priority Monday night.
"That's in the back of our minds," forward Zach Parise said. "But I think, just from the way we started the last two games, our approach should be win the first period. We haven't had great first periods the last two games, and I feel like we've been chasing teams."
Added Koivu: "I think it's more important [than the playoffs] that we focus on ourselves and the game we want to play."
There's a good reason for that approach: Making the playoffs was never the goal. Making a deep run in them was. The best way to set yourself up to do that is to finish the season strong. A win Monday night over Winnipeg is the first step.
"We're not planning on going into our next four games and losing our way into the playoffs," goalie Devan Dubnyk said. "That's not a way to approach it and obviously not a feeling that you want to have going in."
Parise said they'd like to just take care of business Monday night and not fret the next four games.
"You don't want to have to wait until the end and have to rely on other people to have to lose," he said. "You want do it on your own terms. And so it'd be a great way for us to do it with our last home game."
