Back from a 1-3-1 road trip, the Wild practiced Friday at TRIA Rink to prepare for back-to-backs against Utah and San Jose on Saturday and Sunday.
Asked about the trip, head coach John Hynes said, “I think we take some lessons out of that one.”
The overarching lesson, the coach said, is that the team needs to be better at the point of attack, on either side of the puck — winning draws, retrieving pucks, winning on the boards and in the corners.
“To me, it’s more consistency; I think we’ve seen it at times,” Hynes said. “I understand we’re not where we want to be. But at the end of the day, we’ve played some good hockey, we’ve won some games, we’ve earned some points.
“We’ve got to get better in certain areas. That’s one of them. That’s what we’re striving to do.”
The Wild began an important, six-game homestand Saturday against the Mammoth underwater in the standings — 14th in the 16-team Western Conference (3-4-1) with seven points.
It’s still early, but the Wild know first-hand what good and bad starts can do for an NHL team. Two seasons ago, they started 5-10-4, got Dean Evason fired and, despite an initial rebound under Hynes, never held a playoff position.
Last year, the Wild earned points in 10 of their first 12 games and were the NHL’s best road team and led the NHL with a 17-4-4 record on Dec. 4. That start helped them survive major injuries to Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek and barely squeeze into the postseason with an overtime point in their last regular-season game.
The NHL’s three-point system for determining the standings makes digging out of a hole difficult, and establishing — or falling into — a pattern early can make a big difference.
Right now, Hynes said, the Wild need to be playing with more urgency in all situations.
“At every point in the season, there are different things that present themselves and right now, that’s what’s presented to us,” the coach said. “We’ve got to master that, starting (Saturday).”
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