While Minnesota is looking up at two teams, the Wild is just one point back of the Nashville Predators for second in the division race but it has five games in hand. While the Wild's December schedule was ravaged with COVID-19-related postponements, Nashville came away relatively unscathed.
The Wild will have plenty of opportunities to make up for lost time in that regard, playing 40 games in 77 days to conclude the regular season.
Still, Evason refused to look much further than the immediate horizon, which is upon Winnipeg in the first game after the break on Tuesday night.
"I'm excited for the next game, I think that'll be awesome," Evason said with a wry smile. "I look forward to that. We get a break, it's a good time to have a break. We're gonna play a heck of a lot of hockey games coming up, basically every second night. So this rest will hopefully be used properly by everybody."
Minnesota is nine points back of Colorado for first in the division and has three games in hand But it also has a pair of head-to-head matchups against the Avs still to come, both of which will come in St. Paul. In a series that has been dominated of late by the home team, those games could be consequential.