A four-day break this late into the season to recover, rest and reset would typically be an advantage.
Wild fall to Blues 5-4 in overtime to lose more ground in playoff hunt
They blew two leads and have the potential to fall further behind with a four-day break coming up.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 24, 2024 at 5:03AM
For the Wild, this layoff might finally extinguish their already dim playoff hopes.
They could sink as much as 10 points back of the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference during their hiatus after twice blowing a lead to the Blues on Saturday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center before salvaging a 5-4 overtime loss for a single point that may ultimately be inconsequential.
“Obviously, it’s better than nothing,” goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. “But still, we needed two.”
Brandon Saad finished off an end-to-end rush for St. Louis just 2 minutes, 5 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime by dumping the puck five-hole on Fleury, who smashed his stick against the net in the aftermath.
So did Matt Boldy, who was chasing Saad.
“It’s tough to see the positive right now,” forward Marcus Johansson said.
This boosted the Blues two points ahead of the Wild in the standings, and the Wild will lose ground while they’re idle: Vegas, which currently occupies the last playoff spot in the West, and St. Louis will square off on Monday. The Golden Knights beat Columbus 4-2 Saturday night and have a six-point lead over the Wild.
“Teams will win,” said Fleury, who stopped 22 shots compared to 30 for Blues goalie Jordan Binnington. “Teams will get points. But it doesn’t change our goal. Just try to win the next game and go from there.”
Jordan Kyrou erased 2-1 and 3-2 deficits for St. Louis before his hat trick goal at 10:01 of the third period dropped the Wild into a 4-3 hole. Brock Faber lifted Minnesota back into a tie with 5:09 left in regulation when he pinched to get on the end of a bouncing puck.
But Faber was an onlooker in overtime.
He and the Blues’ Jake Neighbours were the only players dinged for roughing at the end of the third during a scrum between both teams, and they watched the extra session from the penalty box.
Faber, who set up a give-and-go that Johansson buried in his 900th career game 4:45 into the second to negate Neighbours’ goal at 10:07 of the first, has 40 points; that’s the second-most for a Wild rookie in a single season.
“It’s unfortunate that they only took us two,” Faber said. “Would have liked to have been out there, for sure.”
Johansson’s equalizer galvanized the Wild.
Marco Rossi accepted a Kirill Kaprizov pass for a breakaway that he deposited behind Binnington at 11:44 of the second period before crashing into the netminder.
After a redirect from Kyrou just 1:05 later sent both teams back to square one, Rossi deflected in a Mats Zuccarello pass off his skate with 4:49 remaining in the period to hit the 20-goal plateau. Only Kaprizov (27) has more goals in a Wild rookie season.
“I knew it was going to be a pass,” Rossi said. “[Zuccarello] never shoots that.”
But Kyrou denied the Wild a drama-free third period when he slung in a long-range shot at 3:50 before completing his fourth career hat trick. Neither power play (both 0-for-1) was a factor.
“That third one, I just didn’t see the release and when I picked it up, it was already past me,” Fleury said.
Kyrou has 11 goals and 10 assists in 19 career games against the Wild, the poster boy for how the Blues have feasted on this matchup in recent years.
St. Louis has won 17 of its last 24 games vs. the Wild, including the past three: the Wild fell 3-1 on March 2 and 3-2 in a shootout last Saturday after nabbing the first meeting of the season.
“They’ve played better hockey when it matters most,” Faber said.
That’s what’s different about each team’s playoff bid.
While St. Louis has three statement victories against the Wild plus a win over Los Angeles this month, the Wild’s resume is short on those results. Their order in the race reflects this deficiency.
What the Wild do have plenty of is shoulda, coulda, wouldas, what-ifs that might start to sting more during their timeout.
“The best thing is continue to focus on what we can do and what we can control and continue to try to push ourselves as we have been for a while now here,” coach John Hynes said. “That’s all we can do.”
High-profile victims in Minnesota include Timberwolf Mike Conley and Twins co-owner Jim Pohlad.
