The Minnesota Wild can clinch a playoff spot with a win at home against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight.
Postseason hockey for a fifth straight season hasn’t been in doubt for the Wild, but a eight losses in 10 games in March culminated with five straight losses before the Wild finally stopped the bleeding with a 3-2 home win over San Jose on Tuesday.
“Anybody can do anything once,” head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “So let’s see how we do Thursday.”
Clinching a playoff spot is nice, but Boudreau wants it all.
“We haven’t clinched anything yet and quite frankly our goal isn’t just a playoff spot, it’s to be the best in the league,” Boudreau said this morning in an interview with KFAN.
If the Wild can pass the Blackhawks, whom they currently trail by six points, they would likely finish as the No. 1 seed in the West and get home ice throughout the conference playoffs. The more likely scenario is that Minnesota finishes second in the division, which would put them in a first-round series against St. Louis or Nashville.
