SAN JOSE, CALIF. – No scoreboard watching was needed since help from another team was unnecessary.
The math was simple: win and claim a playoff spot for the first time in three months.
And given the chance to dictate its own fate, the Wild finally made the leap – shrugging off the Sharks 3-2 Thursday in front of 14,517 at SAP Center to move into the first wild card seed with 75 points after securing its fifth victory over the past six games at the outset of a three-game West Coast road trip.
Vancouver, Nashville, Winnipeg and Arizona (all at 74 points) now trail the Wild, which occupies a playoff berth for the first time since Dec. 6. The team has also won a season-high six in a row on the road, and its 14 points since Feb.19 (7-2) are tied for the second most in the NHL.
"It feels good to be back in there," winger Zach Parise said. "It was a good start to the road trip. I think it's just a product of the way we've been playing lately. I feel like we keep getting better and better."
Like the rest of the team's recent success stories, the formula against San Jose was steady goaltending and timely goal scoring.
In his sixth consecutive start, goalie Alex Stalock made a season-high 40 saves to post his 20th win of the season and improve to 11-3-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .928 save percentage over his past 15 starts. Over that time, he's tied for the most wins in the NHL.
"Goaltending is huge," defenseman Ryan Suter said. "[Stalock's] playing solid, and we're kind of feeding off that right now. We have to continue with that effort and that determination to win games."