No time for Wild to dwell on improbable loss

Wild coach Mike Yeo wants his team to dwell on what happened Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center.

OK, so maybe that's not the whole story. Wednesday, the day after the Wild blew a 4-1 third-period lead in a 5-4 loss to Nashville, Yeo held a surprisingly upbeat, high-paced practice. After it was over, he said he wanted his team to remember what it did in the first 50 minutes of that game and forget the final 10.

"If we want to dwell on anything, it should be the fact that we should have won the game," Yeo said. "For the majority of the game we were playing our game, doing the things we were supposed to do. And we gave ourselves a chance to win three games in a row."

Of course, that didn't happen, thanks to some stunning breakdowns in the final moments. Indeed, even defenseman Nick Schultz, who has played 731 career games, said he couldn't remember a loss like Wednesday's.

But, clinging to the eighth spot in the Western Conference -- only one point ahead of Colorado and Dallas -- the Wild headed to Denver for Thursday's game with the Avalanche determined to look ahead. Schultz, for example, wondered aloud what good it did to fixate on the loss.

"All you do is dig yourself into a hole," he said. "We have to look at our position [in the standings], who we're playing in the next couple games. That should be enough to get us going."

After playing Colorado, the Wild goes to Dallas to play the Stars.

To that end Yeo sounded like a coach reluctant to tinker with his lineup.

"Let's look at the big picture here," he said. "We have to get consistency in our game, and sometimes it's easier when you have consistency in your lineup."

That said, Yeo said he spoke with Clayton Stoner and would talk to Greg Zanon about the struggles the defensive pairing had down the stretch of the Nashville game.

Heatley hot Dany Heatley, who has four goals and seven points in his last three games, likes the chemistry he has formed with linemates Kyle Brodziak and Nick Johnson.

"Those are two easy guys to play with," Heatley said. "We play a simple game, try to get the puck in and work it low."

Etc. • Mikko Koivu's health continues to improve, and the team captain traveled with the Wild. He won't play in Colorado. When asked if Dallas on Saturday was a possibility, Yeo said, "I don't really want to talk about that."

• The day after returning to practice with the team, left winger Guillaume Latendresse (concussion) didn't take the ice Wednesday and did not make the trip.