Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Vancouver

The essentials

The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
ST. PAUL -- After concluding the Eastern Conference portion of its schedule with a shutout victory in Montreal, the Wild continues its frantic sprint to the finish Thursday night back at home when it hosts the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center.
It should expect a desperate hockey team when it does.
While the Wild is locked in a battle for home ice in the First Round in a series that will more than likely come against the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota has already clinched a playoff spot.
Vancouver is fighting for its playoff lives, trailing the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Pacific Division and both the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars in the Western Conference wild card race.
For the Wild, Thursday's game marks the third consecutive matchup against a team currently outside the playoff bubble. It will make it four-straight on Friday when the Seattle Kraken come to town for the first time.
Minnesota has won each of the first two games against non-playoff teams during this stretch, but it hasn't always been easy.
The Wild trailed in the third period Sunday against the San Jose Sharks before rallying to win 5-4 in overtime. Minnesota followed it up with a 2-0 win in Montreal on Tuesday, a game the Wild never trailed in but until the final five minutes or so, never really felt secure in either.
Minnesota struggled during a sloppy second period, but was aided by goaltender Cam Talbot and his 26-save shutout, his third of the campaign.
"No game's going to be easy. You gotta show up and gotta play hard," said Wild forward Matt Boldy. "They haven't been the prettiest, I'd say, recently, but we're getting the two points and that's what matters."
Boldy, along with linemates Kevin Fiala and Freddy Gaudreau have made it look easy lately. That line has been one of the best in the NHL over the past couple of weeks, with Boldy and Fiala accounting for both goals in the win over the Canadiens.
Fiala, the NHL's reigning Second Star of the Week, has an active seven-game point streak, during which, he's tallied seven goals and seven assists. That includes a two-point night in Montreal.
Four of the seven games during Fiala's point streak have been multi-point efforts.
"Feels great. It's always fun to produce, but honestly I take it game by game," Fiala said. "I don't really think about those points, goals whatsoever. The most important thing is to feel good to win the games with the team.
"Before the playoffs, now is the time to really play at your best. Just play free, don't overthink too much and just play the game."
The third-period insurance goal on Tuesday extended Boldy's point streak to six games, the longest of his very brief NHL career. He's got three goals amongst eight points during that stretch. He's got at least one point in each of the past eight games he's played in, tallying 11 points in those contests.
Minnesota has been playing shorthanded of late, going without forwards Jordan Greenway and Tyson Jost, as well as defensemen Jon Merrill and Matt Dumba. Marcus Foligno was added to that list on Monday when he was put on the COVID-19 protocol list. He's out through at least Friday.
Without Foligno, Mitchell Chaffee made his NHL debut and he appears likely to remain in the lineup after he made a positive impression his first time out.
"Really liked his game," Evason said. "[The fourth line] didn't get as much as time as we were hoping. We didn't shy away from any matchups. He performed extremely well."
Vancouver comes to town essentially needing to win each of its last five games this season to make the postseason. It's coming off a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss on home ice to the Ottawa Senators, one where the Canucks rallied to force OT late in the third period.
The one point left on the table was huge, especially considering the victory by the Kings the same night, which pushed L.A.'s lead for the final spot in the Pacific Division to five points. The Canucks do have one game in hand, but also must navigate the Vegas Golden Knights, who like Vancouver, has 87 points.
Forward J.T. Miller leads the Canucks with 63 assists and 93 points and is second with 30 goals one back of team leader Bo Horvat, who has 31 goals.
Goaltender Thatcher Demko is 33-20-7 in 62 games (59 starts) with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.