Wild enter All-Star break regretting missed chances in last two games

After all the adversity — the losing streaks and the coaching change, not to mention the injuries — the Wild being on the verge of a playoff position this deep into the season wasn’t a pipe dream.

It was a very real possibility.

They would have been tied for the last wild-card berth in the Western Conference had they pried two points away from Nashville in their head-to-head matchup Thursday and then prevailed again two nights later against struggling Anaheim, the most winnable game on the Wild’s schedule in weeks.

Instead, they botched both opportunities, for the same reasons, to sputter into their bye week and the All-Star break with two big what-ifs that have put the Wild in a precarious situation coming out of this week-plus layoff.

“If you wait long enough,” winger Mats Zuccarello said, “you’re out.”

As much of an eyesore as these missteps are, even being on the fringe of the playoff picture is some degree of progress.

Back in November when the Wild were flailing, dropping seven in a row on the heels of one of the worst starts in franchise history, they were a bottom-feeder, ranking third to last in the NHL.

But with new bench boss John Hynes in charge, the Wild started taking steps. They won four consecutive games, then three straight, and another four in a row. By the end of December, they were 11-3 under Hynes despite playing without two of their best defensemen in Jonas Brodin and captain Jared Spurgeon.

Winger Matt Boldy resurrected his season and has tallied all but one of his 16 goals since Hynes arrived.

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The absences on the blue line opened the door for Brock Faber to emerge as a rookie of the year candidate for how hefty of a role he has taken on playing the most minutes on the team and in every situation while creating offense. Fellow rookie Marco Rossi’s evolution into a regular has also been key, and center Joel Eriksson Ek already had his third straight 20-goal season.

Injuries would eventually really test the Wild, who have been in a budget crunch all season long while almost $15 million of their budget covers the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts.

Once they healed, the Wild began another surge, going 3-1 earlier this month after picking up four out of a possible six points from a challenging three-game road trip against Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina. A victory Tuesday in their return home over Washington secured a three-game winning streak, giving the Wild a well-earned chance to finally make up some ground in the standings.

NHL standings

And they were on the cusp of following through, leading the Predators and Ducks in the third period before combusting for 3-2 losses.

Hynes linked both collapses to a lack of attention to detail, which will be “addressed Day 1″ when the team reconvenes from break for practice before restarting its season Feb. 7 at Chicago.

He said the Wild gifted Nashville and Anaheim unnecessary goals.

The inconsistency these lapses bring has become routine for this roster, but it’s still somewhat puzzling considering how similar the lineup looks to the one that contended for first place in the Central Division last season before finishing third.

To be fair, the Wild — 21-23-5 for 47 points through 49 games — haven’t had everyone available to play at the same time.

Spurgeon is going to have season-ending surgery, while goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury missed the last four games with an upper-body injury; depth forwards Connor Dewar, Vinni Lettieri and Adam Raska have also been on the mend.

Hynes was hopeful the Wild would be healthy after the break, and then Pat Maroon exited Saturday’s game hurt. On Sunday, the Wild assigned forward Jake Lucchini and goalie Jesper Wallstedt to Iowa in the American Hockey League.

At times, the Wild’s resilience has been admirable; at other times, it looks like there’s a limit to their perseverance.

“Some days it’s there. We play awesome. We play great. And some days it’s just nonexistent, and we can’t have those roller-coaster nights.”

Their latest seesaw has them six points back of the last playoff spot with five teams ahead of them.

Six points and five teams when it could have been zero points and one team.

The Wild can’t change the past, but their control over the future might be slipping, too.

“Never know when you get a hot streak or we find something to put a lot of games together or play massively better the next games,” Gustavsson said. “So, we’ll see what happens.”