Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 3, Oilers 0

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 3-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Monday night:
UPDATE: With Monday's win against Edmonton and Colorado's loss at Los Angeles, the Wild
officially clinched its sixth consecutive Stanley Cup Playoffs berth
early Tuesday morning.

1. The Wild did its part.
Playing in its home finale and without defenseman Ryan Suter (more on that below), Minnesota could clinch a playoff berth as early as late Monday night. All clinching scenarios involved a Wild victory, however, something it accomplished by salvaging the final game of the regular-season series against Edmonton.
The next domino the Wild needs to go its way is a Colorado loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center, a game that got underway at 9:30 p.m. CT. A regulation defeat of the Avs would clinch the Wild's sixth consecutive postseason berth.
If Colorado wins, one victory by the Wild on its three-game road trip would be enough to get it in. So would one regulation loss by the Avalanche the rest of the way. So would one more loss of any kind by the St. Louis Blues.
2. One of the guys charged with picking up the slack in Suter's absence will be Zach Parise, who stayed hot by scoring a pair of goals on Monday.

After a red-hot month of March, where Parise scored 10 goals (fourth-most in the NHL), he picked up right where he left off in the month of April, picking the pocket of Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson and cruising in alone on goaltender Cam Talbot and beating him five-hole for his 14th goal in his 40th game.

Just shy of the halfway point of the game, Parise cleaned up a rebound of a Jonas Brodin shot for his 15th goal. Parise now has 12 goals and 17 points in his past 19 games.
3. Just prior to the game, the Wild announced that Suter will miss the remainder of the season with a fractured leg.
Tweet from @mnwild: NEWS: #mnwild defenseman Ryan Suter will require surgery to repair a fracture in his right ankle suffered Saturday night at Dallas and will miss the remainder of the season. pic.twitter.com/MyAfgblOmU
The hope initially was that Suter would not need surgery to repair the break, perhaps shortening his recovery. Instead, the fracture is in his ankle and a procedure will be required to get him back.
The news is a giant blow for the Wild, making a push for its sixth consecutive postseason berth. Already without Jared Spurgeon, who the Wild actually got good news on today, the loss of Suter leaves a gaping hole on the blueline, not only in 5-on-5, but on the power play and on the penalty kill.
Suter's 45 assists were already a career high (and a franchise record for a defenseman in a single season) and his 51 points were tied with his career best (2015-16).
Related:
- Wild draws win up perfectly - Minnesota clinches sixth consecutive playoff berth