Wild still in decent playoff position, but nothing in the NHL is certain

Back in mid-December, the Wild were leading the NHL and the playoffs felt like a foregone conclusion. The idea of playing for points to stay ahead in the Western Conference race this late in the season would have been concerning.

Contexts change at lightning speed in the NHL, where a team is a few injuries away from having its cushion chipped, or a two-week win streak shy of catching up.

But what matters most stays the same: The Wild are in contention, and they’re embracing it.

“If you told me this is where we’d be early in the season, I’ll take it,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. “It’s good for our team, the mentality of it. Going into the playoffs and going down this stretch of pressure games just molds you a little bit [to get] ready for that experience.

“So, this is the shot in the arm that we need. Everyone in here is willing to take it on.”

The Wild’s second-half slide was at risk of sinking to a new low after back-to-back losses to Dallas and Vegas.

St. Louis had stormed within two points, and the Blues would have tied the Wild for the first of two wild-card berths if the Wild didn’t hold their ground with a 4-2 comeback win over Washington on Thursday night.

“I just liked the way we played,” Foligno said. “We competed. Loose pucks in our zone, we skated to. We didn’t hope it would come to us. That’s a big thing.”

This doesn’t mean the Wild are out of the woods, not when St. Louis has rattled off eight consecutive victories and is skating like the reincarnated 2019 Blues that went from last place to winning the Stanley Cup. At the trade deadline on March 7, St. Louis was 10 points back of the first wild card and the Wild were still third in the Central Division.

Then there’s Vancouver and Calgary lurking just on the other side of the playoff cutline; that could turn the Wild’s last two road games of the regular season in those cities to make-or-breaks.

“Just take it from day to day and enjoy the challenge,” defenseman Jonas Brodin said. “We have teams behind us fighting for a playoff spot, and we’re in a playoff spot right now. We just gotta keep working and take it day by day every game.”

The wild-card finishers will open the playoffs on the road, and it’s looking like the No. 1 seed will go to Vegas and No. 2 to Winnipeg.

The Wild were unsuccessful against both teams, going a combined 0-5-1. And sputtering instead of solidifying this close to the playoffs isn’t ideal, but the Wild should have an opportunity to shape up as they continue to get healthy.

Foligno faced the Capitals after missing five games hurt, and Declan Chisholm is back on the ice after a shot block knocked him out of Monday’s loss to the Stars.

But the most important returns are the ones the Wild have been waiting for the longest.

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek are finally skating during their recoveries from lower-body injuries.

Kaprizov’s last game was Jan. 26 before he was shut down for surgery, while Eriksson Ek hasn’t played since Feb. 22.

Their return isn’t imminent, although both will travel with the team for a three-game road trip to New Jersey and New York that starts after the Wild host the Devils on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center; Kaprizov will see his doctor out east.

“If it was up to those two, they’d be here tomorrow,” Foligno said. “But gotta play it smart. The big picture, we have to think about that. It’s a positive seeing those two guys out there.”

The birds-eye view is also the one that focuses on the bottom line.

Regardless of the injuries and losses that ate away at their lead in the standings, the Wild are still ahead of more teams than they’re behind, and they have the power to keep it that way.

“They’re chasing us, and that’s throughout the whole year,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson. “You’re chased, and now it’s more real. You can see how tight it is with nine games left now, and we can control it. Hopefully we can do that.”