Wild begin seven-game homestand with 3-1 loss to last-place Penguins

The shortage of goals for the Wild has led to another more troubling shortfall, and that’s wins.

They unceremoniously kicked off a season-high seven-game homestand Sunday at Xcel Energy Center by stalling 3-1 to the lowly Pittsburgh Penguins for their fifth loss in seven games.

In each of those defeats, the Wild scored only once or twice.

“We just gotta put the puck in the back of the net,” winger Marcus Foligno said. “Work ethic’s there, and chances are there. We just gotta do a better job of putting it in.”

Where this scoring slump really hurts is the standings: Since starting February with back-to-back shutout losses, the Wild have gone from having a four-point lead over the Avalanche for third place in the Central Division to falling to a wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race and trailing Colorado by two — all while netting an NHL-low 24 goals across their 12 games (5-7).

“This is the crucial time of year,” Foligno said. “We’re getting down to where there’s 18 games left, and we need some wins fast. You don’t want this thing getting out of hand, and it’s not hard.

“I’d be lying to you if we’re not thinking about it. We know we need some wins here to separate ourselves. So we got to just think about defensive hockey if we’re fighting to score right now.”

That’s the thing: The Wild are defending well enough that they don’t need five or six goals to win.

The 3-1 letdown at Vancouver on Friday was inflated by an empty-netter after the Canucks buried a late tiebreaker, and the same thing happened against Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby netted his second goal of the game with 73 seconds left after Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled for an extra attacker, Crosby denying the Wild’s rally from a two-goal deficit that started from a familiar culprit.

With 4:38 left in the second period, Evgeni Malkin whacked in a near-post shot with two seconds left in a Penguins power play (1-for-2).

“We wish it was 1:50,” Foligno said. “Honestly, it’s getting ridiculous. Right at the end there, it’s a good penalty kill, too. Guys are working their butts off, and it just seems like a quick little chip play and good tip on them by their top guys.

“But again, it’s just frustrating because you’re doing a lot of things right.”

BOXSCORE: Pittsburgh 3, Wild 1

NHL standings

Wild coach John Hynes pointed out missed clears as “the difference between being a good penalty kill and one that gets leaky goals at the end of a kill.”

Pittsburgh, though, had no problem thwarting the Wild’s power play.

After a first-period kill, the Penguins overcame three more infractions in the second — including a double-minor for high sticking.

“We didn’t take advantage because we didn’t shoot,” Hynes said. “We played perimeter.”

At 9:21 of the third, Crosby connected on a rebound against one-time teammate Fleury, who was likely playing his final game against Pittsburgh after starting his Hall of Fame career with the franchise.

“I feel like I’m going to hear about this for a long time,” said Fleury, whose 1,015 career starts are second all time. “He still talks about his goal in juniors against me. Lucky, too. Missed his shot and it hit [Brock Faber’s] stick. It’s like, are you kidding me? This guy?”

Finally on their sixth power play, the Wild converted when Ryan Hartman kept the shot on a 4-on-1 rush at 14:54 of the third period.

But the comeback was too little, too late, dropping the Wild to 14-14-1 at home.

“Sometimes when things aren’t going in, you try to force shots,” Hartman said. “But I do like the way we’re delivering the puck to the net. We just got to maybe get inside a little more and make it a little harder for the goalie.”

Fleury finished with 19 saves, while Tristan Jarry (who assisted on Crosby’s empty-netter) had 29. Jarry hadn’t played in the NHL since Jan. 14 and gave up 13 goals over his previous three games in the minors. The Wild also had 26 shots blocked and another 18 miss the net.

Justin Brazeau, in his second Wild game since getting traded from the Bruins last week, took just six shifts and none in the third as the Wild upped other players' ice time.

“The puck doesn’t want to go in, myself included,” said Matt Boldy, who had a game-high 15 shot attempts. “I had way too many Grade-A chances there to not find the back of the net, so put that one on me a little bit.”

And the cost of the Wild’s goal deficiency isn’t getting cheaper.

Their next game Tuesday night is against the visiting Avalanche.

“We’re generating offense,” Hynes said. “We’re not generating goals. Usually when that happens, the tide will turn.

“There’s just some slight things that can be a little bit better, and we’ll continue to work on that.”