Even when the Wild is in the midst of battle, vying for two more crucial points, coach Bruce Boudreau will take a glance at the out-of-town scoreboard.
He keeps the updates to himself, not saying a word to anyone else when he focuses back on the action playing out directly in front of him.
"You look at it," he said, "and then you get back to your game."
And while the most significant boost the Wild received Tuesday was the 3-2 win over the Rangers it pocketed at Xcel Energy Center, the scores Boudreau studied from elsewhere in the league helped, too.
Los Angeles and Anaheim, the two teams directly below the Wild in the Western Conference wild-card race, both lost – all this while the team the Wild is chasing for the first wild-card spot, Dallas, was idle to shrink the distance between the two to just two points.
"That's always nice when that happens," Boudreau said.
As much as this time of the season is about each team taking care of its own business, February and March are also synonymous with scoreboard watching. And the Wild isn't immune.
Checking the pecking order isn't always fun, not when a team isn't helping its own cause, but the Wild has done its part to take advantage lately with a 2-0-1 start to a five-game homestand that continues Thursday against the Capitals.
