Wild's Boudreau Saw Good Things From His Team Even When They Weren't Winning

Alexander Shun | @alexpshun

Digital Content Manager | KFAN.com

When the Minnesota Wild were dominating the NHL and winning game after game after game, all was swell in Minnesota. The sun was shining (sort of), the birds were singing (what few birds were here) and the Wild were going to roll to the Stanley Cup Playoffs where they would finally beat the rival Chicago Blackhawks and maybe even win the Stanley Cup. My how things have changed.

Entering Tuesday night's game against the San Jose Sharks, the Wild had lost five-straight games and suddenly the sky was falling. A dark cloud hung over the State of Hockey and fans were preparing themselves for one of the worst letdowns and heartbreaks in Minnesota sports history. Then the Wild beat the Sharks and suddenly things weren't as bad as they seemed.

According to Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, things were never truly all that bad to begin with.

"Look at the games we lost. We could have very easily, instead of losing seven out of eight, we could have won seven out of eight," Boudreau said to KFAN's Paul Allen on Thursday. "Some of it has got to do with puck luck, some of it has to do with bad play, some of it has to do with the other team playing great and the schedule being pretty rough. So I think all of those things are factors. We've done a lot of good things even though we weren't winning."

Before Tuesday night's game against San Jose, the Wild had played seven of their last 10 games on the road, and six of those 10 games were against playoff teams. And highly-touted playoff teams including the league-leading Washington Capitals, the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Western Conference-leading Blackhawks. 

With a win tonight against the slumping Philadelphia Flyers, the Wild can not only win their second-straight game, but they can also clinch a playoff berth for the fifth-consecutive season and hopefully settle some of the doomsday predictors. 

With 10 games remaining in the regular season including tonight's game against the Flyers, the Wild have an opportunity to get back on track and get quality wins before the Playoffs begin.

"When day one of the playoffs start, to me, that's when you need to be at your best," Boudreau said. "We want to go in [to the Playoffs] just playing our best and whether that's winning the last one, the last two or whatever, that's all our goal is."


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