In the aftermath of the 4-2 loss to the Predators Monday, the Wild embraced the positives.
It was competitive, had a chance in the third period to even the score and received strong goaltending yet again.
But when the team reassembled Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center ahead of its second challenge is as many nights against the Coyotes, the focus seemed to shift to translating that progress into points.
"The message is pretty simple," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We gotta get our act in gear, and you can't be satisfied with close losses against good teams. You have to win. This is a winning league, so we'll find a true test of character right now."
Labeling a game in October as a "must-win" might be a stretch, but there did appear to be a sense of urgency around the team Tuesday morning.
After playing Arizona, the team will have two days before it's next contest – Friday in Dallas before it returns home to host the Lightning Saturday.
"I call it a very important game for us," Boudreau said. "If you look at our schedule, we have to get to .500 quick and then you have to start moving above .500 fi you want to stay in this race. I've bene through it where you have bad starts. It makes it an awful tough grind for the rest of the year. You want to be able to play with a little comfort zone here in case you do have a bad stretch, but we don't want that to happen right now."
The Wild will rely on the same lineup except it'll sub No.1 Devan Dubnyk in for backup Alex Stalock. Dubnyk is coming off a 52-save performance Saturday against the Hurricanes.
