Captain Mikko Koivu said "it's not a game of ifs," but if the Wild could have cashed in an empty-net goal in Games 1 or 5 or at least not given up tying goals on Colorado Avalanche 6-on-5s, the Wild wouldn't be on the brink of elimination Monday night.
"You can't match that [intensity and desperation of defending a 6-on-5 in practice]," coach Mike Yeo said. "There's no question that you cannot match that. But we've been in those situations enough to know we're confident in how we do it.
"It's not like they beat us on the same play. I know that we can be better in that area."
In Game 1, a rebound by Ilya Bryzgalov landed on Paul Stastny's stick. In Game 5, Stastny set up P.A. Parenteau after defenseman Ryan Suter said he or partner Jonas Brodin should have protected the middle of the ice.
"We got a little stretched out there," Suter said. "I chased behind the net. I probably should have stopped in front."
Including the regular season, Colorado has scored six times out of 20 opportunities with an extra attacker.
"We've always been smart in that time," said Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly. "We know we have two minutes … where we don't need to force plays. We can stay calm, work the puck on the perimeter and wait for them to get out of position and then we attack. We don't need to rush. We have that calmness that anyone on the ice can make a good play when it's needed."
Another set of eyes
Even former referee Kerry Fraser, a TSN analyst, tweeted Saturday night: "Trouble in Denver. Charlie Coyle held by Andre Benoit with net empty causing turnover. Up ice, Paul Stastny is offside as Avs tie game. Ouch!"