Wild need 'absolute best' to keep season alive in Game 5

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Wild are angry. They are frustrated. They hated how they played Monday night at home, hated that the result, a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round, was appropriate and earned for how they competed against what was clearly a more determined opponent.

"It was just sloppy," Wild defenseman Brock Faber said. "It's not that any of us didn't want to win the game or wanted it any less, I just think we, unfortunately, didn't have our best and you need your best in games like that. That's what is so frustrating. That is what it is. We showed that when we're at our best, we can play with this team, we can beat this team, and now we're going to need that absolute best for next game."

The next game -- Game 5 at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC) -- could very well be the Wild's last this season if they come out with a similar performance.

That's why the Wild now are focused on the blueprint for how they won Game 3, which was easily their best performance of the series.

They won 5-1 with an attack-mentality and a simplistic approach. 

They won with their star players being the best players on the ice.

They won by pressuring the Avalanche into turnovers, into not having their skating legs.

They lost Game 4 because none of that happened, and the Avalanche were better, too.

"As well as Colorado played, well, a lot was due to our kind of arrogance of just not getting it in and just going to work, and that's just the way we have to play," forward Marcus Foligno said. "Ours isn't as pretty as Colorado's. And that's fine. We played that way in Game 3, and it was a lopsided score. So just got to get back to that game and understanding that, like, they don't want to go back for pucks. Who does? No one does in this league, and especially in this series. And it's the repeat of the simple play for our team because when we get in the O-zone, our skill could take over from there."

It's the skilled players like forwards Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov who have to do their part to get the puck into the zone. 

Too many times in Game 4, including on the power play, Boldy and Kaprizov were guilty of trying to skate the puck in, or attempt to make an east-west play. 

All that did was fuel Colorado's attack, because turnovers became chances the other way.

It can't happen again.

"It's hard to win and you have to be willing to do the things that winning requires, right?" Minnesota coach John Hynes said. "It's 10 days into a series, right? We've seen what works. We've seen what it's going to be. And that's ultimately how you win. It's not playing the game that you want to play. It's playing the game that is required to win. And that's why winning in the playoffs is so hard."

There are clear concerns about the Wild's second line of Danila Yurov, Marcus Johansson and Boldy, and their second defense pair of Jared Spurgeon and Daemon Hunt.

Just look at the even strength shot attempts differential in favor of Colorado when they were on the ice in Game 4.

Yurov: minus-21 (21-0)

Johansson: minus-17 (18-1)

Boldy: minus-14 (22-8)

Spurgeon: minus-18 (24-6)

Hunt: minus-17 (21-4)

But there are no easy fixes with center Joel Eriksson Ek (typically the center between Boldy and Johansson) and defenseman Jonas Brodin (Spurgeon's defense partner) both still out with lower-body injuries and not traveling to Denver for Game 5.

"We can talk about line combos and stuff like that; we got out-competed last night," Hynes said. "Like, Game 3, we out-competed them. We were the harder team, won more puck battles. Last night, they were the harder team. They were more competitive in the hard areas of the ice, they won more puck battles."

Foligno said the Wild might feel different, less confident as they head to Denver, had they fluked their way to a Game 3 win. Instead, they earned it by how they played, which fuels belief. 

"It's promising that we had a good game, and we know how to execute our plan, and when we do, it's outcomes like that," Foligno said.

One problem: The Avalanche are saying the same thing, albeit in reverse order.

They were angry after Game 3. They were frustrated. They hated that the result they got was earned and deserved because they didn't compete near to the level as the Wild did that night.

Colorado responded with a much better Game 4.

Now it's Minnesota's turn. 

"The adversity is back on us, right?" Hynes said. "It's like a volley."

The Wild have to hit it back or their season could come to an end Wednesday.

"We have an opportunity to respond to what just happened," Hynes said. "To me, wouldn't you rather have something like that happen than sit all summer, have a chance to really respond and give a good game and push this thing further? That's the opportunity."