The Wild overcame the injuries, scoring four times in the third period -- two into an empty net -- in capturing a 5-2 victory against the Blackhawks.
Minnesota did much of that damage with eight healthy forwards. At one point late in the game, with two players in the penalty box, coach Bruce Boudreau was staring at a half empty bench and just six available forwards.
"You've heard me say the last year, when one person leaves, another one's got to come in, and I expect them to do the same job," Boudreau said. "We're not a 'woe is me' team, and we're not going to sit there and say, 'Oh well that guy's out and this guy's out,' and make excuses because excuses are for losers. We plan on being as good as we were against Chicago, and I'm convinced if we play the right way, good things are going to happen."
If anything, the Wild proved to itself that it can withstand a tremendous amount of adversity and still overcome it, like it did during the turbulent third period on Thursday.
The Wild has five days to rest and prepare for a quick two-game road trip next weekend following the Columbus game on Saturday. By then, it's possible Parise and Foligno could each be ready to re-join the lineup.
"It's interesting. It's something that you can't really prepare for," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk. "We're a deep team. That's where we find our success from throughout the season. We have guys playing on the third and fourth line, usually, who are capable of playing on the first and second line and getting points for us. In that regard, it's going to be a good opportunity for quite a few guys and something that I'm not at all worried about."
"There's a lot of things that we probably didn't love about it but we found a way to win [on Thursday]," Cullen said. "I think that we feel like we have another level. It's early in the season, we're still looking to improve but there's things we can draw on there and there's things you can build your group around."