If you're a Wild fanatic who doubles as a worrywart, there was a laundry list of things to be concerned about Sunday night.
First: Captain Mikko Koivu, who centers the Wild's most productive line, was ill and didn't play. Second: Backup goalie Darcy Kuemper, whom coach Bruce Boudreau challenged to be better a week earlier, was starting. Third: The Wild was playing for the seventh time in 11 nights and coming off an emotional come-from-behind victory over Anaheim the night before.
Whether it was a letdown, fatigue, missing Koivu and injured Jonas Brodin or all of the above, the Wild squandered a third two-goal lead in four games and paid for it a second time with a 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
"If we want to win a championship, it's got to get better," said Boudreau, whose Western Conference-leading team fell for the third time in regulation in 24 games (19-3-2). "You've got to be able to play with a lead. It's tough to play with a lead in this league. … You've got to go after them and try to increase the lead rather than just hold the lead."
Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville gave the Wild a 2-0 first-period lead, but after James Neal scored early in the second, the Wild began to crack. It was outshot 10-4 in the second and couldn't regain its two-goal lead.
Zach Parise, who has no goals in eight games, was stick-checked on a shorthanded chance and shot wide. Charlie Coyle, who has only 28 shots in the past 20 games and one goal in the past 13, hit a post from point-blank.
"When you give yourself a two-goal lead, you can't let them hang around," Parise said.
By 2:20 of the third period, Filip Forsberg, who scored the winning goal with 6:36 left, tied the score after Tyler Graovac lost a faceoff and "we lose our structure," Boudreau said.
The Wild's fuel tank looked empty. The Wild barely could make consecutive plays cleanly, and while nobody was using fatigue as an excuse, Boudreau canceled Monday's practice to try to replenish some energy before the team flies to Dallas for Tuesday's game.
With the Wild looking as if it would be lucky to drag the game to overtime and get a point, Pominville made the toxic mistake of not getting a puck deep. His pass to Matt Dumba was turned over, and shortly after, Kuemper couldn't stop Forsberg.
Boudreau thought Kuemper should have made the save, but the coach made it clear, "It's the guys in front of him that should've played better."
Boudreau recalled the loss to open the 2-2 homestand against New Jersey, a game the Wild also blew a two-goal lead.
"It's because we make dumb mistakes in the third period," he said. "You don't play to win. We are two feet from the red line on the third goal and we don't get it deep. Twenty seconds later, it's in our net and it's because of bad sort-outs in our own zone."
Boudreau also noted that 33 seconds before Forsberg's winner, Jason Zucker was blatantly tripped in the offensive zone. Not long after, Ryan Suter was high-sticked in the head. No calls were made.
"They have to start calling the penalties that are penalties," Boudreau said.
Koivu's absence hurt. Jordan Schroeder found out he would be centering Granlund and Zucker 20 minutes before warmups. He did a fine job, but the Wild lost 22 of 34 faceoffs in the first 40 minutes.
"[Koivu's] our guy for faceoffs," Boudreau said. "It hurts the balance and everything."
The Wild's six-game winning streak against the Central Division ended. So was its 15-game point streak against the Western Conference. Tuesday in Dallas, the Wild could extend its road point streak to a franchise-record 13 games. Boudreau expects Koivu to play.
There are two games before the All-Star break, and the Wild must find some vigor and gnash through those games.
"You have those parts of the season where you have to grind through it mentally, and good teams know how to do that," Schroeder said.
