From the Rink: Minnesota looks to continue slow build toward postseason

ANAHEIM, Calif. --The Minnesota Wild has clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That much is certain.
Where the Wild will open the postseason and who it will be against are two crucial bits of information still unknown. But as is often the case, those factors are entirely out of the hands of the Wild.
All Minnesota can do is make sure it has its own game in order when the playoffs start, either next Wednesday or Thursday. The odds say the Wild will begin in Winnipeg, but depending on how things go over the next 72 hours, it could also start in Nashville or in Las Vegas.

Regardless of its first-round opponent, the Wild wants to use the final three games of the regular season as a spring board to bigger and better things once the postseason begins.
"I think it's very important to maintain our level of play that we have even though we have been clinched," said Wild forward Daniel Winnik. "There still is that slight chance that St. Louis can catch us for that third spot in the Central, so that's important as well."
Winnik knows all too well the importance of playing good hockey this time of year. He played with the Washington Capitals for a year and a half before coming to the Wild last summer. The Caps won President's Trophies each of the two seasons he was there, but wasn't able to advance past the second round either time.
In each case, it was the Pittsburgh Penguins that came out of the series, going on to win the Stanley Cup both years.
"It goes without saying, you go into these playoffs -- and you see it in the NCAA basketball and hockey where it's single elimination -- a lot of the series is whatever team is the hottest," Winnik said. "I think your level of play going into the playoffs really dictates how you're going to play in that first round."
The Wild will try and continue its solid play of late when it begins a three-game California road trip to conclude the regular season on Wednesday when it plays the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.
Minnesota is 5-1-3 in its past nine games overall, six points clear of the Blues in the Central Division standings.
While the Wild can breathe easy when it comes to the playoffs, the Ducks are still very much fighting to get in. It trails the Los Angeles Kings by one point for third in the Pacific Division but also has one game in hand.
Minnesota will take on the Kings tomorrow in Los Angeles in a game that will be just as meaningful for the home team there as well.
Anaheim, currently the West's top wild card, is two points better than Colorado (with one game in hand) and three better than St. Louis, which is the first team out of the playoffs.

"These are going to be three games against teams that are gonna be playing hard, playoff hockey and need the points," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk. "It's a good opportunity for us to play meaningful, hard-fought games here for the last three. You approach it the same way, you don't think about anything situational, you just go out and focus and prepare as if we had to have these two points."
Here are the projected lines:
WILD
Jason Zucker - Eric Staal - Nino Niederreiter
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Jordan Greenway - Matt Cullen - Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno -Joel Eriksson Ek - Daniel Winnik
Jonas Brodin - Matt Dumba
Nick Seeler - Ryan Murphy
Carson Soucy - Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
DUCKS
Rickard Rakell - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Andrew Cogliano - Ryan Kesler - Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie - Adam Henrique - Ondrej Kase
Jason Chimera - Derek Grant - J.T. Brown
Hampus Lindholm - Josh Manson
Francois Beauchemin - Brandon Montour
Marcus Pettersson - Andy Welinski
Ryan Miller
Reto Berra
Related:
- Wild Warmup: Minnesota at Anaheim - Photo blog: Wild skates at Honda Center on Wednesday