Tough schedule, tougher teams keeping Wild in rut

The schedule isn't doing the Wild any favors.

During their six-game slide, they have lost to three top-10 juggernauts (Rangers, Stars and Avalanche), the always-formidable Maple Leafs and the up-and-coming Sabres and Senators.

Next is a Sunday matinee at Detroit against a Red Wings lineup that just handed the NHL-leading Bruins their second regulation loss of the season; Detroit was responsible for the first one, too.

But the fact is, from the Wild's 29th-place perch, every matchup looks like a doozy.

Only one NHL team has fewer victories than the Wild's five, half the league has at least double that, and only two of the Wild's opponents the rest of 2023 currently have a worse point total.

Math like that makes the climb out of this rut appear as a never-ending staircase, but it's up to the Wild to complete the trek — even if there aren't any shortcuts along the way.

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves," coach Dean Evason said. "Nobody feels sorry for us. Every team's trying to win. We're trying to win, too, and our group will push forward to get a win."

As clingy as this funk has become, the Wild do seem to be getting closer to escaping it.

Their last three losses have all been by one goal, including a 3-2 decision vs. Colorado on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center. Kirill Kaprizov was impactful, scoring for the first time in four games, and Joel Eriksson Ek potted the equalizer after getting high-sticked and looking for his teeth on the ice. But a turnover in their own zone and subsequent scramble burned the Wild, leading to the game-winning goal for the Avalanche.

"Right now, we can't get out of our own way," Evason said.

This is progress, where the line between a win and loss is razor-thin, but now the challenge for the Wild is to have that turning point benefit them instead of the opposition.

"Maybe the power play is extra for us [Friday], and we get the win," Evason said. "Maybe a couple games ago a goalie steals it. Maybe we defend. Maybe our penalty kill.

"Something has to go well here for us to get us a boost."

Still, as Evason pointed out, the Wild can't rely on one jolt.

"We need a lot of people to pull in the right direction," he said.

At practice on Saturday at TRIA Rink in St. Paul, that group reconvened with a few tweaks.

Eriksson Ek rejoined Marcus Johansson and Matt Boldy, Frederick Gaudreau worked alongside Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar, and Pat Maroon teamed up with Ryan Hartman; Marcus Foligno (maintenance) didn't skate, and neither did goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who was under the weather. Filip Gustavsson is scheduled to start in net on Sunday.

On defense, Alex Goligoski is penciled in after healing up a fractured fibula suffered less than a week into the season.

"We've gone through adversity before and come out of it every time," Goligoski said. "That's why you're confident about it."

The Wild have been unsuccessful so far in finding a solution to this skid, but that doesn't mean they've stopped looking.

Their search continues.

"Everything is absolutely negative around everything, but we can't be," Evason said. "We can't be negative. If we just continue to stay that way, then we're not going to get out of this.

"We have to have a little pushback. You gotta have some bite in order to get out of this."