The Wild are the way they are now because of what happened to them then.
After winning the most games in franchise history, they collapsed in the playoffs last year to St. Louis.
But when they regrouped for this season, the Wild didn't just learn from their mistakes.
They did the complete opposite.
Bloated outcomes and edge-of-your-seat comebacks were replaced by soccer-score wins and mundane third periods. Defense, not offense, was their trademark. Special teams more closely lived up to their name.
Basically, the Wild have been playing playoff hockey for months.
Beginning with Game 1 on Monday at Dallas, they will find out if that was the change they needed to make to finally clear their longstanding hurdle that's been the first round. Game 1 is set for 8:30 p.m. Monday on BSN.
"We've done a great job this year of holding ourselves accountable and understanding what goes into being a playoff team, the difference of approach we have to take this year," Matt Dumba said. "I like where we are mentally and as a collective right now."
Slow start
Initially, it looked like the Wild were trying to preserve their old habits.
They tripped out of the starting gate, dropping their first three games by margins they used to win by: 7-3, 7-6, 6-3.
As many returnees as there were from the lineup that posted the most wins (53), points (113) and goals (305) in 2021-22, this was very much a different team. Second-leading scorer Kevin Fiala was traded in the offseason; same with goaltender Cam Talbot, who was flipped for Filip Gustavsson.
"I don't know if we thought we were more skilled than we were," Gustavsson said. "We have the skill, but we can't rely on purely the skill. We have to do all the boring stuff first in the D-zone and the neutral zone, and then we can have fun in the offensive zone. We didn't do that in the beginning."
Eventually, the Wild adapted.
They reintroduced themselves in December when they went on a season-high six-game win streak, the team giving up one goal or less in five of those victories.
"The goals weren't coming as easy as they were last year," coach Dean Evason said. "So, we had to make a little more emphasis on the defensive end."
Even in January, the Wild were banking points by being stingy. But their newfound identity wasn't sticking.
In typical Wild fashion, adversity became the adhesive.
Second-half surge
The Wild stumbled again from a standstill, going 0-3 then 1-4-1 coming out of the All-Star break.
Then they rarely lost at all.
For more than a month, the Wild were the best team in the NHL, rattling off an 11-0-3 run for a 14-game point streak that's the longest in franchise history.
Kirill Kaprizov shouldered the offense, supplying half of the Wild's first 16 goals during that blitz. At the other end, the Wild gave up two goals or less in all but three of those 14 games, with Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury backstopping the Wild to five and six wins, respectively.
The breakout star of the Wild's season after turning a backup gig into a 1A/1B tandem, Gustavsson's right-place-right-time technique clicked with the Wild's sturdy own-zone structure. That level of security was key to the composure that led to clutch performances, like 19 one-goal wins, a 31-0-3 record when leading after two periods and a league-high seven shootout victories. Their penalty kill went from being in the bottom third to top-10, the Wild's 14 shorthanded goals the third most in the league.
"We were winning a lot of games 2-1, 3-2," Marcus Foligno said. "Kirill was scoring the goals, but we locked it down defensively when we won games. I just feel that's the style that we had to learn this season."
All hands on deck
Even when the Wild lost Kaprizov to injury, a lower-body ailment suffered March 8 at Winnipeg, the team didn't falter.
Instead, the Wild ended up clinching their 10th playoff berth in the last 11 seasons while he was on the mend, finishing 46-25-11 for 103 points and third place in the Central Division.
They were propped up by their depth, with Matt Boldy leading the way.
Boldy had 13 goals while the Wild went 7-3-3 without Kaprizov, and 17 different players overall scored. Even when Kaprizov returned, the Wild's balance kept getting tested because Joel Eriksson Ek went down with a lower-body injury earlier this month that'll keep him out week-to-week.
Make no mistake: Kaprizov is in the driver's seat, the winger becoming the first in Wild history with multiple 40-goal seasons. But he's not traveling alone.
"We all bring something different, and I think that's huge, understanding your role and your job and where you fit in and just trying to perfect that, be the best you can for your teammates," Dumba said.
"You see that in our locker room, just how guys prepare, how much we care about each other and how hard we play every night."
Some of these players were picked up along the way.
Ryan Reaves was the first of five in-season trade acquisitions, the toughness and energy he arrived with just before Thanksgiving providing the Wild with that much-needed early-season jolt. Marcus Johansson, Gustav Nyquist and Oskar Sundqvist were the reinforcements brought in up front, with Johansson and Boldy becoming a dynamic duo and Nyquist making a difference in just the three games he's played since recovering from a lengthy injury. John Klingberg stepped in as quarterback for a power play that improved early but sagged late.
What do all these players have in common?
They've all advanced past Round 1 of the playoffs.
"We got a little bit of everything," said Reaves, who's competed in a conference final in each of the last three years. "We have those big bodies that play physical, that are ready for the grind. We got the skill up front. Obviously, we got some solid goaltending, solid defensemen, some guys that jump into the rush, some guys that stay home.
"So, I think it's just kind of a complete lineup that is ready for a good playoff run."
Different direction
The Wild haven't won a playoff series since 2015.
Just once in their last six first-round exits did they even reach a Game 7; a year ago, they were bounced in six despite leading the best-of-seven 2-1 and facing a depleted Blues lineup.
"A lot of us remember that exact feeling, getting eliminated when we have one of our best seasons as a team in franchise history," Dumba said. "To come up short, it's not good enough."
If that team couldn't cut it, with all their goals and rallies, it makes sense why the Wild would lean into a U-turn.
Might as well give it a try, right?
"We like where we're at," Evason said. "We like our group, the makeup of our team, how we play the game. You play all these games to play playoff hockey, and we know how to play playoff hockey.
"We're looking forward to the drop of the puck in that first game."
