The Wild take a look around and realize: Not much has been lost amid the losses

Mats Zuccarello thought he was playing terribly.

“I couldn’t feel it the whole game,” he said.

That’s why the Wild’s resident playmaker hurled the puck toward the net, “because I knew that I’m not gonna find anyone with my passes.”

So, when his shot flew by Los Angeles goaltender Darcy Kuemper during a late third-period power play and broke a 1-1 tie, Zuccarello pumped his arms and beamed as his Wild teammates surrounded him.

“I know I’m old,” the veteran winger said. “But I can still be happy and emotional when we as a team play hard and we get a win that way.”

The Wild’s 3-1 comeback vs. the Kings on Monday at Xcel Energy Center was worth celebrating.

Los Angeles had defeated the Wild twice earlier this season for two of their most uncharacteristic performances, and the Kings were rolling — winning five in a row and coming off back-to-back shutouts.

Factor in the Wild’s scoring struggles, and what could have been a nightmare matchup became a reality check: As grim as the Wild’s woes felt at times over the previous five games, they are comfortably in a playoff position with a month to go.

“We’re human beings,” said Zuccarello, whose game-winner was also his 100th goal with the Wild. “We care. You feel like you’re playing worse than you are. Those couple of games that we lost, I felt like we played good. We could have won. A couple of games we lost deservedly. But it’s the NHL.

“Every given night, you’re playing a top team in the world, and when you go through stretches during the season when you’re not feeling yourself and whatever it might be, that’s why it’s nice and emotional to get a win here and there.”

To be clear, the Wild’s 5-6-1 record since the 4 Nations Face-Off break hasn’t been consequence-free.

Colorado took over the Wild’s long-held third-place post in the Central Division and has shown no sign of slowing down. But a demotion to the first wild-card seed in the Western Conference came with a healthy buffer that hasn’t wavered much despite the Wild picking up only five out of the past 12 points up for grabs. They’re eight points ahead of their closest competition after starting 2-2-1 on their seven-game homestand, which continues Wednesday in a nationally televised TNT clash with Seattle.

“Sometimes it feels like we’re out of the playoffs,” defenseman Jon Merrill said. “We’re still in a good spot. Let’s have some perspective, believe in ourselves and know we’re a good group.”

Still, it’s understandable there’s concern.

Until Marcus Johansson’s empty-netter against Los Angeles, the Wild hadn’t scored more than two goals in five straight games, and four of those outcomes were losses. Twice they outplayed the other team (Vancouver and Pittsburgh), and once they were routed (St. Louis).

To make matters worse, help from their most important forwards isn’t imminent; while defenseman Jonas Brodin is skating as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek are “progressing off the ice,” coach John Hynes said, as they recover from their lower-body issues. Marcus Foligno also missed Monday’s game because of an upper-body ailment. The Wild made a move Tuesday to find help, calling up Liam Ohgren from Iowa.

“A lot of people just took it a little too personal last week, and a lot of players took it too personal with not scoring,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said. “But we are creating chances, and pucks are gonna go in.”

Other than that 5-1 meltdown against the Blues on Saturday and some of the 3-2 overtime victory by the Rangers last Thursday, the Wild have been solid.

There’s still room for improvement; the power play is carrying the offense, accounting for six of the Wild’s past nine goals.

But the Wild have enough of a lead in the playoff race to not panic.

That cushion is indicative of the team they once were, the one that thrived early in the season when they weren’t dealing with so many injuries, and the Wild can preserve their standing by still trying to play like that team.

“Sometimes the scoring doesn’t come easy,” Hynes said. “It can’t take away from what makes us us, and I think what gets overlooked at times is how much of a team this group is. We’ve had a lot of adversity all year long. We continue to fight. We continue to play.

“Yeah, we have some bad games. We have some tough stretches, but there’s always a bounceback. There’s always a response.”