Wild trying to remain positive as losing streak stretches to five

It was another loss by the exact same score, a grim-looking 4-0 letdown to the Ducks Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center that extended the Wild's rut to five straight losses and 1-6-3 overall in its last 10 outings.

And while there was a sense of exasperation among players after another deflating outcome, there was also a tone of defiance – an attitude the team is poised to need to climb out of this slump.

"It's frustrating, but we can't feel sorry for ourselves," defenseman Ryan Suter said. "No one's going to feel sorry for us. We have to find ways to score. You have to focus on the next game. Everyone has to do something different to find a way to score."

While there was plenty to bemoan after another setback, players reiterated the pursuit of solutions rather than dwelling on the negativity that keeps piling on to the group.

Rehashing mistakes is part of the roadmap the team's using to figure out a way out of this jam, but doing so with a resilient outlook is the goal.

"Things aren't going our way," winger Charlie Coyle said. "It's that simple, and you've got to find a way. You've got to stay positive through it all. No matter how bad things get, we've got to stay positive and we've got to find a way."

What's likely to challenge that perspective is the looming uncertainty of the trade deadline, which expires Monday.

"It's up to him. It's not my department," Coyle said. "We can only control what happens on the ice, and obviously we haven't been controlling it as best as can here. It's a shame that that has to be talked about and has to happen as it has previous weeks here, and who knows what's going to happen. But it should never get to that. It's a shame that it is."

After finishing a four-game homestand 0-2-2, the Wild will venture on the road for a back-to-back set Thursday and Friday against the Rangers and Red Wings, respectively.

How the offense responds to consecutive shutouts will be key for the team. Tuesday's result stretched its scoreless streak to 156 minutes, 24:07 shy of tying the franchise record.

"We have to figure it out in this room," Suter said. "We have guys that have scored a lot of goals in this league, and hopefully we'll figure it out here."

Had the team not have been stalled by two quick whistles against the Ducks, perhaps it would have finally snapped its skid.