A Wild ride (But back on track?)

On Monday night, the Wild tumbled. The team didn't play; Monday was a day off. But late in the evening, as Calgary was finishing off a 7-3 shellacking of St. Louis, the Wild fell, from No. 3 in the Western Conference to No. 6.

On Tuesday night, the Wild tumbled again. It was another day off, but Colorado's 5-2 victory over Atlanta dropped the Wild to No. 7.

By the time the Wild gets to play again -- Thursday against New Jersey -- it could be worse. Minnesota could be clinging to the last spot in the Western Conference playoff picture.

Which would explain why the mood at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday afternoon was ... upbeat?

After a rather long and hard-skating practice, the consensus was that Sunday's home shootout loss to San Jose was a signal that the Wild is back on its game.

"I like the way we played [Sunday]," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "We've been talking about playing more as a team, to get a little edge, and I felt we did that."

This despite the fact that the Wild has won three of its past 11 games while fellow Northwest Division foes Calgary (7-1-2 in its past 10 games), Colorado (8-2) and Vancouver (6-2-2) have been making their move.

The Wild also is playing a center short -- Lemaire said that Eric Belanger's cracked toe might keep him out of the final 12 regular-season games and that Pavol Demitra will play center until further notice -- and has scored more than two goals only twice during its 3-5-3 stretch.

That means the fight for a playoff spot has gotten tighter than ever for a Wild team that held a six-point lead in the division as recently as Feb. 17.

Frustration?

Center Mikko Koivu: "We knew it would be like this. There are stretches where you lose some games, some when you win. If you ask if it's frustrating? I don't think so."

Defenseman Nick Schultz: "It's in the back of your mind, that we had that lead. But you can't think about it. This is the situation we're in and you have to look forward. We have 12 games left, nine of them against our division. That's your season right there."

General Manager Doug Risebrough: "We've hit a flat spot, and that lead has evaporated. But what happens if we win the next six games? I never anticipated, when we had that six-point lead, that that would be the end of it. Too many variables."

The consensus on the team is that the Wild righted the ship in Sunday's shootout loss.

If so, it was a crucial change for a team that, Lemaire admits, needed it. Lemaire said he had seen signs of sliding play over the last month: Players skating easily to the bench on a change. Or forwards not supporting their linemates positionally or hustling to back-check.

Risebrough said he thought the Wild got away from a team concept. With a constant stream of tight games -- 10 of the Wild's past 13 have been decided by a goal -- Risebrough saw players trying to win games by themselves.

"Everybody wants to rely on a moment in the game, a [play] to change it," Risebrough said. "Sometimes ... players are trying to take it upon themselves to create that moment and do it by themselves rather than realize it's going to take a team effort right from the start to the end of the game."

"But I didn't see that against San Jose," Lemaire said. "I didn't see it at all, myself, looking at the game. I see everyone trying hard. ... When I see them work, I'm not frustrated. Because we work hard and get beat? We got beat by a better team. What can you do? Now, a month ago, I was frustrated."

But now? Admittedly there is pressure. Lemaire says he wants this team to feel that pressure full-on. The players?

"We have to stay positive," Marian Gaborik said. "It's huge to stay positive, play with confidence. We had some ups and downs. We haven't been as consistent as we want to be. But we can't look in the past. We have to look forward, try to build on the games we have to play."

Those games: New Jersey, tops in the East, starts the Wild's final 12 games. There is a home game against Los Angeles on Saturday. But nine of the final 10 are against division foes, including three with Colorado and two each against Vancouver and Calgary.

"As a player you want that pressure," Schultz said. "Hopefully, you rise to the occasion."