The Wild went through an intense one-hour practice this morning at the X after a 3-2 loss in St. Louis on Thursday night.
Theme of the day was a higher competitive level.
"Compete, you know? We're a pretty good team when we compete, but when we compete for half the game, we're not a very good team," said coach Bruce Boudreau.
The Wild struggled through the first period before getting back into the opener, but it was a disappointing night for the players.
"We're not going to get any shots on goal if we don't apply pressure to the team," Boudreau said after practice. "We don't want a 21-shot game too often this year. Two in the first period."
Said defenseman Jared Spurgeon: "We all know as a group we can play better. Winning battles was the key to practice today, a lot of little battles. Hard work's going to be the main factor for our team."
Said Zach Parise: "If you're not willing to compete and engage in a place like St. Louis, it's tough to win."
Lines stayed the same at practice as they were for the start of the Blues game, but Boudreau juggled defensive pairings a bit and said there could be some changes on Saturday night for the home opener against Winnipeg: "It's early in the season, we want to see everybody."
