For the Minnesota Wild, the only thing that matter right now is taking momentum into the playoffs. Leaving points on the table against teams below them in the standings, is not the sort of form required.
After staging a comeback from 2 goals down, and even going ahead late in the 3rd, the Wild couldn't complete the job in OT. It was LA's Jeff Carter who halted the Wild momentum train with just 33.8 seconds remaining in the 3 on 3 extra session.
Joel Eriksson Ek put the Wild up late in the 3rd period with a goal that showed amazing patience to hold the puck, wait for Quick to go down and then slot it by him, but Devan Dubnyk expressed what the dressing room was feeling after the final whistle:
“It’s always going to feel like a waste when we have a lead with under a minute left. It was a hard-fought, playoff-like game. We made a real nice play to go up and overtime is overtime. It’s going to go one way or the other.”
After starting the game sparkles and going behind 2-0, the Wild battled back with 2 goals coming in quick succession.
The 1st came from Zach Parise, while the 2nd was a blistering wrister from Eric Staal on the breakaway to tie the game up.
With the Eriksson Ek goal, the narrative was all set, but the Wild just couldn't get the job done. A frustrating result for the once again healthy crowd on hand in the State of Hockey.
The Wild will now get 4 days off before Saturday’s game against the Central Division leading Nashville Predators. The rest could go either way, but by securing the 1 point from tonight's game against the Kings, Minnesota at least ensured that they wont fall from the 3rd seed while idle over the next couple of days.
Eric Staal at least believes that coming in fresh wil do the Wild more good than bad:
“I think we’ve got to take advantage of these four days here. Just get our mind right and get our body right to have a strong push. We are going to need everybody.”
The players know best when it comes to rest and motivation so this is certainly a good sign.
See you tomorrow.
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