After an overtime loss to Calgary on Tuesday, the Wild responded with divisional wins against Chicago and Winnipeg on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively, pulling to within two points of the St. Louis Blues for third in the Central.
"We're getting ourselves into a pretty good spot. I think just looking at tonight, it's pretty disappointing having the lead with three minutes left in the game and not coming away with the win," said Wild forward Zach Parise. "But I guess big picture wise, we're slowly climbing the standings, so that's a good thing."
2. Overall, it's quite clear the Wild is beginning to put its game together.
Minnesota felt like it left two points on the table this week. Even so, it was productive.
The Wild trails first-place Winnipeg by six points and second-place Nashville by three points.
Minnesota is two points clear of the Dallas Stars for the top wild card position in the west (Dallas has two games in hand) and three points up on ninth-place San Jose (which has five games in hand) and Chicago (one game in hand). Colorado and Anaheim are four points behind.
It's a crowded Western Conference, but teams will have to win with the Wild on its five-day bye week, which begins Monday and concludes Saturday when its hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning to cap Hockey Day Minnesota festivities.
"I think we're starting to play better hockey overall," Boudreau said. "In regulation, we gave up six goals in four games, which is what our identity is gonna have to be. We're not the highest scoring team this year, so quite frankly, we're going to have to defend, and I thought we did, for the most part, a good job of that."
Since Nov. 9, Minnesota has been one of the top teams in the NHL, posting a 19-10-3 record, accounting for 41 points -- tied with Vegas for second-best during that stretch and just one behind Washington, which has posted 42 points.
"We are definitely pushing in the right direction, that's for sure," Zucker said. "As a team we're all playing together better. You can sense it on the ice and in the locker room. We are building."
3. Where do we go from here?
The Wild has 36 games remaining in the regular season, including 18 at home (where it is 15-4-4) and 18 on the road (where it is 9-13-1).
It will play Tampa Bay and Ottawa at home before traveling to Pittsburgh for a game against the defending Stanley Cup champions, which leads into the All-Star break.
A game at Columbus finishes January's schedule before the Wild jumps into February, where it will play 13 games, eight of which will be on home ice. All but one of those contests will be against a team with a winning record.
Things get dicey in March, when the Wild travels west for back-to-back games on three consecutive weekends.
Minnesota also has road games against divisional foes in St. Louis, Colorado, Nashville and Dallas (twice) and also a trip to the West Coast to finish the regular campaign.
"It's a lot of days off in the calendar month, but I think for us Nino [Niederreiter]'s hurt so that kind of comes at a good time for us with the five days," Winnik said. "I think we're getting the rest when we need. I think it's more important to be on a roll mid-February and March as opposed to taking a break then."
