Road success fueled Wild in strong first half to NHL season

WINNIPEG — Life on the road is about to get routine for the Wild.

Since most of February is devoted to making up the games postponed earlier this season by COVID-19 and the bulk of that action was set to be outside of St. Paul, the Wild will be on the move much of this month.

Based on how the team fared away from Xcel Energy Center in the first half of the season, the itinerary might not be that daunting.

"We've done a really good job of understanding this is how we have to play," said winger Marcus Foligno, who returned to the lineup Tuesday against the Jets after missing two games with a hip injury. "Momentum [and] the fans aren't always on your side. So, simple hockey, disruptive hockey, aggravating hockey for their team is what we want to play."

The Wild went 14-7-2 as the visitor through its first 41 games, snagging one more point on the road than it did at home (14-3-1).

What's been helpful is not falling behind early; the Wild pocketed nine wins in the first half when leading after one period compared with just two when trailing after one.

"It always helps when you're playing with a lead I feel like because then you don't have to chase the game and also, I feel like we probably roll four lines a lot more when we play with the lead," center Nico Sturm said. "That helps a lot as well."

Later this month, the Wild has its longest trip remaining on the schedule: a four-game trek across Canada with stops in Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary, in that order.

On the ice, that stretch could be meaningful for the Wild and its spot in the standings. But the time away from the rink could also be significant for team camaraderie after players were previously limited in what they could do because of the pandemic.

"Maybe it gives you a chance to hang out with a person that you maybe don't hang out with as much normally," Sturm said. "I think he upside of the restrictions was you were kind of forced to almost be a little more together. We had those team dinners at the hotel instead of maybe people going out to restaurants.

"I actually kind of liked that, eating with the team and just sharing a meal. When you sit down at a table, that's usually where you start to tell stories and share memories. That's one of my favorite parts of the road."

The NHL's COVID-19 testing policy has changed, with the league no longer conducting daily testing for fully vaccinated players (which is everyone except Detroit's Tyler Bertuzzi).

Testing will be conducted only on symptomatic players and for cross-border travel.

Taxi squads are also gone. Those were a temporary addition in December until the recent All-Star break to minimize the chance of teams playing shorthanded because of COVID-19.

Washington captain Alex Ovechkin wasn't at the NHL All-Star Game last week, sitting out after testing positive for COVID-19, but the Russian superstar was still commemorated in Las Vegas.

Kirill Kaprizov's entry for the breakaway challenge during the skills competition was a tribute to Ovechkin, with the winger wearing Ovechkin's Capitals jersey, shooting righthanded like Ovechkin and following up his goal by mimicking Ovechkin's hot-stick celebration.

Despite the attention to detail — Kaprizov also sprayed a Gatorade bottle like Ovechkin and wore Ovechkin's trademark yellow laces and tinted visor — the panel of judges didn't give Kaprizov the highest score. That went to Vegas' Alex Pietrangelo, who had the Golden Knights' drumline featured in his attempt.

"I think it's pretty cool," Ovechkin told reporters Tuesday. "I think it was fun. I don't know why he don't get too many points. What's the referee doing out there?"