Gustav Nyquist has played only three games since missing more than two months with a shoulder injury and only once was he in action when the Wild iced their normal lineup.
Now he has to adjust to the intensity of the playoffs, with the Wild's first-round series beginning Monday at Dallas, but that's the fun part.
"That comes naturally," Nyquist said. "I don't think that's challenging. Everyone runs on adrenaline at this point of the year. I think that just comes natural to everyone."
Based on how he's performed so far, Nyquist certainly looks up to speed.
He's factored into the offense every time he's suited up for the Wild. After setting up a pair of goals in his team debut, the winger scored his first goal for the Wild last Monday at Chicago and then assisted on two others in the regular-season finale at Nashville on Thursday — showcasing the smart, playmaking style the team felt it was adding when acquiring him from Columbus in a Feb. 28 trade despite Nyquist being sidelined at the time with that shoulder injury.
"It's like he hadn't missed a beat, especially that first game and then he was real good in the other two," coach Dean Evason said. "It's just nice to have him, a veteran player like that, come out of an injury and feel real comfortable with his game."
In the lead-up to the playoffs, Nyquist skated alongside Marcus Foligno and Sam Steel, a grouping that has a unique blend of traits from Foligno's size and Steel's responsibility to Nyquist's strong puck presence.
"It's been great for me personally to just to get these three games in and get the timing of it, system-wise just getting yourself used to it," said Nyquist, who has five goals and 16 assists in 65 playoff appearances with Detroit, San Jose and Columbus. "It's going to ramp up obviously another level here in the playoffs. But under the circumstances, I feel good going in here."
