After winning seven straight games in March, the Minnesota Wild have lost five of their past seven contests. What is more concerning is that they have been defeated by playoff-caliber teams in those past four losses.
Minnesota has lost to St. Louis (4-1), San Jose (4-2), Los Angeles (3-0) and Chicago (1-0) recently. The Blues and Blackhawks games were played at the Xcel Energy Center while the Sharks and Kings tilts were played in California. The Wild also picked up a 3-0 win against the Blue Jackets in Columbus at the end of the West Coast road trip.
There are multiple reasons for the team’s recent woes.
First of all, in the shortened 48-game schedule, Minnesota has had to play many back-to-back nights. The Wild had their winning streak snapped in Dallas on March 29 and then squeaked out a comeback win against Los Angeles in a shootout at home the next day. They got a day off, lost to St. Louis on April 1, traveled on April 2 and then played the Sharks and Kings the next two days. That’s five games in seven days.
Minnesota blanked Columbus, 3-0, after three days rest, giving credence to the notion that the Wild were tired ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Tom Schreier
Minnesota Wild: How Concerned Should the Team Be About the Recent Losses?
April 9th, 2013 by Tom Schreier Leave a reply »
Advertisement