The Wild exhibited the desperation needed in Game 3 to prevent itself from falling further behind the Jets in assembling a decisive 6-2 win.
But it'll need to recapture that same urgency – and possibly more – to even the series when the puck drops on Game 4 Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.
"We're still a desperate hockey club," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's sort of a must-win here."
Expect a better effort from the Jets, who stumbled for the first time in the series Sunday. They felt their speed declined in that game, so look for them to try to pick up the pace Tuesday – improvement the Wild is bracing for in Game 4.
"That's what we need to expect," goalie Devan Dubnyk said. "That's why we keep saying we need to get better. We need to get better than last game, better than the games before. We want to continue to build because that's what they're going to do. They're a good team, very good team. They're deep. So we're going to need to continue to bring better as well because we know they're going to."
The Jets will have a new look, with defenseman Tucker Poolman pegged to step after Tyler Myers suffered a lower-body injury Sunday following a collision with winger Marcus Foligno.
Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice disagreed with the lack of supplemental discipline for Foligno, which Boudreau called "gamesmanship."
"It wasn't a bad hit," Boudreau said. "He fell. I think Marcus is a rough-and-tumble player, but I don't think he's gonna try anything where if I fall and I hit him on the right side of his knee or his hip or wherever it was, that it's gonna damage him. I think it was all gamesmanship on [Maurcie's] part and he's looking for an edge, which coaches are supposed to do but not supposed to do at the same time."
