Regular-season finales when a playoff spot is already clinched are usually peculiar. Saturday's against Calgary should be no different for the Wild.
The game is meaningless in the standings because the Wild's cemented in the Western Conference final playoff spot. But with the Wild on a four-game losing streak, it has to balance the desire to escape the game completely healthy with the need to get its game in focus with the playoffs starting next week.
"It's always something that unfortunately you have in the back of your mind," right wing Jason Pominville said. "Everyone's human and guys are probably going to think about trying not to get hurt. But you've got to go out there and play and try to get back on track and try to be better as a team and play a more complete game all over the ice.
"But there is that in between where you're going to be thinking about it, for sure. It is tough to do."
The Wild has demonstrated that the past two years during one-sided regular-season-closing defeats. Two years ago against Nashville, the Wild was in discernible do-not-get-hurt mode. Ilya Bryzgalov gave up three goals on three shots as the Predators scored six unanswered goals to rout Minnesota.
"There's no doubt you have a tendency in a game like this to look ahead, but we've got to get our game back," left wing Jason Zucker said. "If we were on the top of our game and we were playing lights out, then maybe you can worry [about injuries].
"But especially right now after losing the last few, we have to make sure we get back to playing the right way and not sway and not hope the light switch just turns on in Game 1 of the playoffs."
The Wild will know by the end of the night whether it's playing the Dallas Stars in the first round or the St. Louis Blues. Minnesota was a minute away from playing the Stars until Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko scored the tying and overtime goals Thursday in Chicago.
The Wild's puck drop is 6 p.m. An hour later, the Stars play host to the Nashville Predators and the Blues face off at home against the Washington Capitals. The Predators and Capitals have nothing to play for. The Stars and Blues would likely both want to gain the top seed in the Western Conference so they can avoid the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first round.
The Stars and Blues have identical records, but Dallas has the tiebreaker and can clinch the top seed with a victory. If the Stars lose in regulation, the Wild would play the Blues if St. Louis gets one point. If the Stars lose in overtime or a shootout, the Blues must beat the Capitals to get the top seed.
"Whoever we get, we get," interim coach John Torchetti said. "That's the bottom line. You're getting a great team because they're fighting for the No. 1 spot."
Torchetti conducted a fun practice Friday that included players passing around a weighted puck the size of an outdoor shuffleboard disk.
"It was something different, something fresh," Pominville said. "Those things are pretty heavy. When you grab a puck after that, it seems tiny and pretty light. Guys were ripping it after that drill."
Torchetti hopes the Wild gets back to "playing fast" Saturday.
"I felt the [two] days off put everybody in a good mood," Torchetti said. "I've seen some guys smile that I haven't seen smile for about a week."