Back-to-back wins against Central Division rivals after picking up a point against another team in the traffic jam that is the Western Conference playoff race is certainly more than enough to crown this week a prosperous one for the Wild.
But the opportunity to improve to 3-0-1 on the brink of its bye week is very much on the team's radar after upending the Jets 4-1 Saturday at Xcel Energy Center.
"We've never completed the deal in the week," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "This is an important week for us because other teams weren't playing. We've got one more game against a rested [Canucks] team tomorrow who will probably be thinking the way we were thinking today. So we have to be ready for them, especially coming off a win."
Five points from three games is the Wild's best stretch since a four-game win streak Dec.8-14. This run has kept the Wild in serious contention for one of the wild-card spots in the West, and it's also inched only three points behind the third-seeded Blues in the Central Division.
Another two points Sunday could be significant – not just for the standings but for the team's morale as it prepares to go idle while others compete next week.
"We knew it was going to be a big week for us," winger Mikael Granlund said. "We're going to be on a bye week next week, so we gotta gather as many points as we can. We have one more to go, and hopefully we can make it a great week. So far it's been pretty good."
Here's what else to watch for after the Wild's win over the Jets.
- Credit the Wild for the perseverance it showed after the Jets capitalized on the power play just 47 seconds into the third to move within a goal.
That could have been a crushing blow, especially considering the Jets appeared to have found their legs in the second period. But the Wild snuffed out the comeback with a pair of goals from defenseman Matt Dumba.
"That was good," Dumba said. "You gotta shake those off quick. It's a fast game. I think that was great that we just bounced back like that and kind of just kept going on the same pace that we were on in the first and second."
- This was one of winger Marcus Foligno's best games of the season.
Not only did he assist on both of Dumba's goals, but he also registered a career-high six shots on net.
"I just looked at my recent games and haven't been shooting much and just was told to get that shot off," Foligno said. "It's something that before this game I prepared myself to do and I would've liked to score, but we created a lot of chances."
Foligno's tripping penalty late in the second period carried over into the third, and that's when Winnipeg scored. But Foligno was able to redeem himself with his pair of helpers on the two insurance goals later in the period – this after he was a healthy scratch in mid-December and struggling to make an impact on the ice.
"I'm just trying to play more and get more into games," he said. "I think that helped me out a little bit. You always want to be a factor every day, and it was disappointing when I wasn't. So I'm glad to be contributing and being a player that this team needs every night.
After the game, assistant coach Bob Woods – who was an assistant with the Sabres last season when Foligno played for Buffalo – told coach Bruce Boudreau this is how Foligno played most of 2016-17 when he scored a career-high 13 goals.
"He's got to get back to his roots of what he is," Boudreau said of Foligno. "He's a high-energy guy that's physical, and he came right out and did all those things in the first period."
- Boudreau said he'd chat with goalie Devan Dubnyk to see how he feels when asked if he'd tab his No.1 goalie to close out the back-to-back Sunday against the Canucks but also noted Dubnyk is on baby watch, as the 31-year-old is awaiting the arrival of his third son any day now.
"When nothing is going on when you leave, babies don't just really fly out of there," Dubnyk said. "So usually there's some hours of labor before that. There was no update when it was time to get dressed, so I wasn't too worried about it."
