Wild surge into their break knowing they’ve set up an opportunity

To have less than a third of the season to go and be ahead of most of the NHL rather than behind is a point of pride for the Wild.

After all, the playoffs were a pipe dream last year.

But the team also recognizes what’s at stake after a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off: The Wild still have work to do to capitalize on what they’ve accomplished.

“It’s a hard league,” winger Matt Boldy said. “It’s hard to get points. It’s hard to win. We’ve put ourselves in a good spot. [But] lot of games left to kind of cement that spot and find our way into the playoffs.”

When the Wild restart Feb. 22 at Detroit, they’ll be comfortably above the playoff cut line in the Western Conference with 70 points that rank them tied for seventh overall, but seeding is still very much up for grabs.

They’re third in the Central Division, only two points back of Dallas for second place but 11 points behind Winnipeg, which is jostling with Washington to sit atop the NHL. The top three finishers in the division receive automatic playoff bids, but Colorado is only two points behind the Wild in the West’s first wild-card spot.

The two wild-card teams will go up against each division leader in the first round, and neither will have home-ice advantage, so the battle to climb inside the division will be worth watching the rest of the way.

Then again, given the Wild’s dominance on the road, landing lower might be better for them.

Their home record improved after consecutive wins at Xcel Energy Center over Carolina and the New York Islanders going into their layoff, the Wild now are a mediocre 13-12-1 at home. But away from St. Paul, they’re a league-best 20-7-3 — one of many corrections that have spearheaded their turnaround.

After beginning poorly in recent years, the Wild thrived out of the gate, not suffering their first regulation loss until their eighth game. They never trailed for 19 periods, almost 400 minutes, for the second-longest season-opening streak in NHL history. Filip Gustavsson bounced back from a down season to an elite level, even scoring the first goal by a Wild goaltender, while the defense in front of him was just as stingy.

“Last year was more of a rollercoaster,” said Gustavsson, who is 22-11-3 with a 2.63 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and three shutouts. “More bad games for everybody. It was more up and down, and this year it’s been a little more even.”

Superstar Kirill Kaprizov emerged as the early MVP favorite, his torrid start alongside longtime linemate Mats Zuccarello catapulting the team up the standings, and the detail-driven style that was powering the Wild had them in the mix for first overall — until injuries intervened.

While they admirably persisted initially, the Wild were stretched thin in mid-December. They dropped a season-high four in a row ahead of the holidays, and when they reconvened, Kaprizov was sidelined because of a lower-body injury.

Kaprizov, whose 23 goals, 29 assists and 52 points still lead the team, missed a month, and even though the Wild won more than they lost while he was on the mend, they weren’t as predictable and Kaprizov’s eventual return wasn’t a cure-all; he played three games before getting shut down for surgery.

He’s two weeks into a minimum four-week recovery, but because he’s on long-term injured reserve, which requires him sitting out at least 10 games, he’ll be unavailable until at least March.

Jakub Lauko (lower body) is expected to practice when the Wild regroup. Ryan Hartman has seven games left on a 10-game suspension for roughing that he’s appealing.

Not everyone will have down time off the ice these next few weeks.

Brock Faber and Boldy will represent the United States at the 4 Nations tournament, while Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek and Gustavsson were selected for Sweden. Eriksson Ek sat out Saturday’s game because of a lower-body injury that isn’t considered a major issue and is still planning to go.

Coach John Hynes is an assistant for Team USA, with President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin its general manager.

“Hopefully I put one past these pads when we play them,” Faber said, referring to Gustavsson’s Sweden-themed pads. “No, it’ll be great. Obviously, you’re rooting individually for those guys — just not when you’re playing against them.”

The first best-on-best international competition featuring NHLers from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the U.S. since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, this seven-game showdown replaces the All-Star Game. Montreal and Boston will host the action, which begins Wednesday; the championship game is Feb. 20.

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity,” Hynes said. “It’s really special. You’re around other elite players. The intensity of the tournament is going to be very fun. So, I think it’s two great opportunities: If you’re not going, you have a great opportunity to get away from it.

“But if you are going, it’s a special event, and I think everyone that goes there is going to take positives away from it.”

Once those players return, the Wild should anticipate make-or-break hockey when their playoff race resumes.

They’ve had statement victories against defending Stanley Cup champion Florida and contenders Carolina and Washington, but they’ve struggled at times against their stiffest competition in the West by going 3-8 vs. Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas and Winnipeg.

“It’s going to be tight,” Boldy said. “You see the points, how close everyone is all season long. It’s been kind of back and forth. That’s the nature of the division we’re in: Everyone’s so good, so every point matters.”

The NHL trade deadline is March 7, a chance for a team such as the Wild that have made impressive strides to bolster their playoff chances, but the organization is strapped for salary-cap space amid the string of injuries during the last of the most expensive years of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts.

Even so, the most impactful change the Wild could make might be to get back to full strength because they were sharpest when they had few to no holes to patch in their lineup.

“Hopefully everyone’s taking a deep breath,” Gustavsson said, “and just realize we’re in a good position. There’s still nothing to stress about. Just have to keep playing very hard and very strict to our game plan.”