Wild enter Golden Knights matchup knowing it might be their last chance: ‘It’s a playoff game’

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Friday was team photo day for the Minnesota Wild.

That meant everyone was out there, including injured captain Jared Spurgeon and — yes — the team’s dog, “Hatty,” who sat in front of president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin and owner Craig Leipold.

The story of this season’s club seems all but written. The brutal start that led to coach Dean Evason getting fired. The surge following John Hynes taking over. The injury-plagued, 1-7-1 midseason slide that it’s still trying to recover from. The likely too-little, too-late run after the All-Star break.

It’d be easy to call it a lost season due to the injuries to key players. Or say the Wild simply weren’t good enough against the teams they’ve been chasing.

They are still mathematically alive in the playoff chase — 2 percent odds, according to The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn — but Saturday’s game against the Golden Knights could be the one that officially puts those hopes to bed. As goalie Filip Gustavsson put it, it’s better to be still in it than talking about summer golf, but this one feels as close to an elimination game as there could be during the regular season.

Vegas has played 73 games, Minnesota 72, and the Golden Knights are up nine points on the Wild. And the Knights might be the only team they can catch with two head-to-head matchups left. The Kings are a point behind Vegas but also have a game in hand and a more favorable schedule.

West playoff race

So in a month full of “big,” “must-win” games, this one is as big as they come.

“We all know that,” forward Freddy Gaudreau said. “Once you know that, are aware of that, the only thing you can do is go out and play. Have fun, do it together and embrace that challenge. Those games are why we play. It’s why we started playing hockey. Those are the fun challenges. We can’t forget it’s meant to be embraced.”

“It’s a playoff game,” Jonas Brodin said.

The Golden Knights, in a 7-2-1 stretch, have heated up at the right time (and the worst possible time for the Wild). Minnesota will have to be better than it was Thursday, when it held on to beat the worst-in-the-NHL Sharks 3-1. Hynes mentioned issues with puck decisions, puck management and overextended shifts that made it much more of a tossup than it should have been. That’s something the Wild addressed during Friday’s practice and meetings.

Sure, they have Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin back. Kirill Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman, both of whom missed practice due to body maintenance, will play. But that won’t be a saving grace.

“It’s not so much, to me, the players; it’s how we play,” Hynes said. “It’s the mindset we play with and the commitment level that it takes to win games. The hard areas of the game. Puck management. Shift lengths. All those types of things. If you don’t have those things in your game, then it doesn’t really matter who’s in your lineup. And I think that’s, to me, the most important thing to feel confident and more prepared coming into Vegas that we need to tighten some things up.”

This can’t be one of those games where the Wild blow a third-period lead and give Vegas a point. A regulation victory is a must, especially when you consider each team’s remaining schedules.

• Vegas: at Wild, vs. Canucks, at Coyotes, at Canucks, at Oilers, vs. Wild, vs. Blackhawks, vs. Ducks
• Los Angeles: at Flames, at Jets, vs. Kraken, at Sharks, vs. Canucks, at Ducks, vs. Flames, vs. Ducks, vs. Wild, vs. Blackhawks
• Minnesota: vs. Senators, vs. Avalanche, vs. Jets, at Blackhawks, at Avalanche, at Golden Knights, at Sharks, at Kings, vs. Kraken

The Wild have beaten the Golden Knights this season, 5-3 in Vegas on Feb. 12. What struck Hynes about how Minnesota won that game was its commitment all through the lineup. It was one of the team’s complete games.

“I thought it was one of our better games,” Hynes said. “We managed the puck very well, were competitive in puck battles. They’re a big, strong team, and we were good in those areas. We got good goaltending. That style of game it’s important to have some of those things. This is also the time of year where it always comes down to competitiveness in the hard areas of the ice.”

The Wild did get strong goaltending that night from Gustavsson, who could start Saturday. Hynes didn’t disclose the team’s decision in net, but it certainly felt like Gustavsson was getting the nod by watching Friday’s practice. It’s been a big bounceback for Gustavsson in his past few starts, going 2-0-1 with a .968 save percentage and one shutout.

The one question mark going into Saturday, lineup-wise, will be Marcus Foligno, who was held out Thursday due to a lingering groin injury. He hasn’t been shut down for the season, Hynes said, and the team will talk with him and trainers about whether he will — or should — suit up against Vegas.

“Particularly veteran guys, in my experiences, they know what they need,” Hynes said. “They know, in conjunction with the trainers, what their percentage would be — is it 80, 90, 95 percent? Particularly with Marcus, I think he’s a good judge of where he’s at and what he can do. Can he be himself? Can he be a factor in the game the way we need him, the way his body is?”

The Wild’s record against teams above them in the playoff race doesn’t inspire a ton of optimism. But how they play Saturday will show a lot more than what they say.

“To play those games that matter, that’s what everyone wants to do,” Eriksson Ek said.

(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)