CALGARY, ALBERTA — During a 4-1-1 stretch that included consecutive Wild wins at home against Detroit and at Edmonton, Mike Yeo started to see more and more examples of the Wild's game coming.
Take the second and third periods in Edmonton when the Wild was tight defensively, generated scoring chances and spent much of the final 40 minutes in the offensive zone.
It looked like the Wild picked up right where it left off in the first 14 minutes of the first period in Calgary on Saturday. All four lines were buzzing, pinning the Flames in the defensive zone, generating a sustained attack.
But then, one shotless power play later, the entire game turned south.
Instead of staying disciplined to Yeo's system, the Wild got lured into what the coach felt was a "bit of a track meet" with the Flames. Slowly, that track meet turned into long stretches in the Wild end and long spurts without shots.
"We've been playing pretty good here lately," Yeo said after Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Flames. "The biggest thing for us, we're talking about how we're still building our game and we're still learning. You learn from doing the right thing and seeing the result [as at Edmonton] and you learn from doing the wrong thing like we just did and seeing the result.
"It's a matter of getting back to our game. We have to respond the right way with a much better attitude and much better preparation for how we're going to play the game."
Like most coaches, Yeo wants to avoid getting into uncontrollable "track meets." He wants his players to stick to the system. He wants pucks behind the defense and suffocating forechecks to wear down opposing teams.
