At its best, the Wild is the hockey equivalent of a pest, a team that makes life difficult for its opponent because it refuses to just go away.
Wild fans witnessed that team for seven glorious games against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of these Stanley Cup playoffs. The Wild played feisty and brought an unmistakable edginess to its game. It refused to concede even an inch of ice.
Can somebody locate that group of players and have them report to Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night before the team's postseason ends in a whisper?
The Wild trails the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks 2-0, and this best-of-seven series has no chance of lasting long if the Wild doesn't offer more resistance.
So far, the series really hasn't produced anything that resembles playoff intensity or nastiness. It's been rather ho-hum. It's lacked the drama, animosity and tension that made that Avs series so compelling. There hasn't even been one roughing penalty, for Pete's sake.
The Blackhawks have won both games in workmanlike fashion and are just cruising along. The Wild, meanwhile, has looked lethargic, especially in Game 2, and now would be a good time to rekindle that dogged attitude that it revealed last series.
"We definitely haven't shown what we're capable of," winger Charlie Coyle said. "We haven't been on our game. We haven't had that grittiness that we brought last series."
Maybe being at home and feeding off the energy of their fans will help provide that emotional spark. And maybe the team's big guns — Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, specifically — will decide to jump into the fray and contribute some offense. That would be helpful.