Wild's Playoff Woes Continue With Another First-Round Exit

   

The Minnesota Wild have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs eight times in the past 10 years, tied for the most appearances in the Western Conference over that time.

Wild's Playoff Woes Continue With Another First-Round Exit

Unfortunately, they've also won a grand total of zero playoff rounds over that time.

The Wild had another season come to an end in excruciating fashion on Thursday night, falling 3-2 at home in Game 6 of their first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. This marks the Wild's eighth-straight playoff appearance without a series win (they lost in the qualifying round in 2020, so they didn't even make the first round that year), one of the worst streaks in not just the NHL, but all North American sports.

The worst part is that, statistically speaking at least, they didn't do much wrong in this series.

Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy were both outstanding with five goals apiece, and even Ryan Hartman had a strong offensive showing with six points (two goals, four assists). Filip Gustavsson also had a strong showing in net with a .913 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average. They were even solid on special teams with a 23.2 power play percentage and a 72.2 penalty kill percentage, even if they'd like the latter to be a little higher.

However, there's no stat to show performance in the clutch, and Minnesota fell drastically short in that department.

The Wild lost both Game 4 and Game 5 in overtime, which undoubtedly took some of the wind out of their sails as they looked to take a stranglehold on the series on both occasions. Game 6 didn't come down to overtime, but the Wild made it a one-goal game with 3:27 to go in regulation and simply couldn't find the equalizer even with an extra attacker. In all 3 one-goal games, Minnesota lost in heartbreaking fashion, and that's incredibly difficult to overcome for any team.

There is still hope for the offseason, however. The Wild will finally be free from the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, which previously took up around $7.37 million each in cap space but will go down to less than a million each. As a result, they'll finally be able to spend to the cap ceiling like other teams.

That said, they need to figure out how to play their best hockey when it matters most, and that's something that money really can't buy.

Minh Nhi -
The Latest

New York Rangers Hire Mike Sullivan

Sport -7 giờ

The New York Rangers announced they is hiring Mike Sullivan as their 38th head coach in franchise history. This announcement that Sullivan will be named the next Rangers head coach should not shock anyone. Once Sullivan parted ways the Pittsburgh Penguins, everyone connected the dots to ...

Three-time Stanley Cup champion retires after 21 NHL seasons

Sport -7 giờ

The last goaltender selected with the first overall pick has officially hung up his skates. As expected after his farewell tour, the NHL Alumni Association announced that Marc-André Fleury has retired from the NHL after 21 seasons. Fleury’s career began on Oct. 10, ...

Attorney Shares Who Owns Dorit Kemsley & PK’s $6 Mil Home, Plus Why PK Could Get Her Bravo Salary as She May Have Been “Strategic” in Waiting Until 10-Year Mark of Marriage to File for Divorce

Entertainment -7 giờ

The owner of Dorit Kemsley and Paul “PK” Kemsley‘s $6.5 million marital home in Encino, California has been revealed. Days after Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Dorit’s divorce filing, which seemed to be prompted by PK’s public make-out with Shana Wall, 50, attorney Ronald Richards has shared new details in regard to ...

Summer House’s Ciara Miller Addresses Status With Jesse, Rumors of Skipping Lexi’s Birthday, Coachella Outing, and Carl’s Crush, Plus Where She Stands With West After Reunion

Entertainment -7 giờ

Ciara Miller appeared on Wednesday night’s episode of Watch What Happens Live, where she confirmed her status with Jesse Solomon and addressed their outing at Coachella. After she and Jesse, 31, were accused of skipping Lexi Wood‘s birthday party to hang out with each other at the California ...

Lisa Vanderpump Responds to Claim That Scheana Shay Spills “A lot of Tea” About Her in Upcoming Memoir: “She Hasn’t Got Anything Else to Say”

Entertainment -7 giờ

Scheana Shay may have titled her upcoming memoir My Good Side, but the Bravo star could soon have her former boss Lisa Vanderpump on her bad side.  While appearing as a guest on Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live, a fan asked Lisa to weigh in on recent comments Scheana ...