Wild Can Seal Playoff Birth on Five-Game Home Stand

The Wild have been up to the challenge since the widely-proclaimed “schedule from hell” began on March 13th. From that day on, the Wild have and will see only one team that is out of playoff contention in its last fifteen games.

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Seven games into that stretch, the Wild have earned 10 out of a possible 14 points, including wins over the Islanders, Predators and Blues on the road.

The points have put them in a good spot, but they aren’t out of the water yet in the very competitive western conference. The Wild are sitting in the 1st wildcard spot, four points head of the 9th place team with 8 games to play.

Now, the attention turns to St. Paul for a much-welcomed five-game home stand. Surprisingly, the Wild have a record of 2-3-0 in their last five games at home. All the while, they’ve won a franchise record 10-straight games on the road. Now would be a great time for Minnesota to re-establish their home-ice dominance.

According to head coach Mike Yeo, a friendlier crowd isn’t going to make for an easier game.

“What it comes down to is how we play the game at home,” said Yeo after the Wild’s morning skate pre-Calgary. “Obviously it’s a big game tonight, so how we prepare for the game is very important … Coming back home, we just can’t have any ideas or a sense that we’re just going to play better by making nicer plays. Those plays develop by doing certain things and for us, I think it comes down to getting back to a team that’s tough to play against at home.”

So just how big is tonight’s match-up with Calgary?

Ever since the pre-Dubnyk era, when the Wild dropped to as low as 12th in the western conference, every single game has been equally important. The Wild just needed points, and they’ve got them. Stepping off of the gas now, however, would be a very bad idea, especially against a hungry Flames team that was dropped from the playoffs last night.

A win in regulation tonight wouldn’t solidify a playoff spot for Minnesota, but it would be close. It would put the Wild at 93 points with seven games remaining, and it’s going to take about 96 to reach the playoffs. A loss in regulation, however, would make things a lot more interesting. The Wild would then be three points away from getting bumped out of the playoffs.

Minnesota has put itself in a position where it doesn’t have to win every game from here on out. However, match-ups like tonight against the Flames, tomorrow against the Kings and next Monday against the Jets all have big-time impacts on the standings.

Bottom line, they can’t take a deep breath yet. But win three of five games on this home stand and we’ll be looking at playoff match-ups.

Next: Does Devan Dubnyk have a Shot at the Vezina?

Mar 24, 2015; Uniondale, NY, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) shoots the puck against New York Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak (41) during shootout at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Wild won 2-1 in shootout. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

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