MONTREAL – Coach Bruce Boudreau addressed the Wild after the first period and following the second.
But once the group's sixth loss in seven games ended, a 4-0 drubbing by the Canadiens Thursday at Bell Centre, it was captain Mikko Koivu who did the talking during a roughly 10-minute, closed-door meeting among the players.
"Some things needed to be said," winger Jason Zucker said. "Mikko covered them."
The schedule has been rigorous and ripe with playoff teams, a strenuous challenge that was clear months ago when the calendar was set. But after a 1-6 start, the players trained the focus on exactly where it needs to be and that's the Wild as it's currently assembled.
"What gives me the belief is this group of guys is tight, and there was so much optimism coming in and we just get kind of stifled like we have been," defenseman Matt Dumba said. "It's just kind of piling up against us and it feels like if we can just take down layer by layer and break that down and get some confidence here and get rolling, anything can kind of happen. We have to get one."
Aside from this being a squad that continues to make the same mistakes over and over, it looks like a team carrying the pressure of its eyesore of a record.
Players seem tense and are trying to do too much instead of simplifying their approach. And that isn't helping the team's cause. It's hurting it.
"We have all had our moments of plays that we want back, myself included," Dumba said. "It's just got to stop. We have to be dialed in for 60 minutes and come to the rink prepared for that, whether it's the starts or ends or wherever that might be. We have to be dialed in, and that's on us. We will find it here."
