With a chance to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, the Minnesota Wild are now in the second round of the Stanley’s playoffs.
They face the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4.
Here are the storylines that will matter most as the Wild attempt to clinch a playoff berth and move on from their playoff drought.
1.
The Wild have won three in a row after a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.
That marked the first win by the Wild since May 3, 2018, when they lost 4-3 to the San Jose Sharks in the Western conference finals.
2.
The Dubs have won their last five in the series.
They defeated the Ducks 2-1 in Game 1 and 2-0 in Game 3.
They won 3-1 on Feb. 18, 2020, in Game 5.
They’ve won four straight in the postseason.
3.
The Sharks are one of the best teams in the league right now.
They’re 6-0-1 since the All-Star break, and have won five of their last six.
They have a 12-1-2 record since the break.
4.
The Ducks are a different story.
They dropped three straight to the Sharks, but have won two of the last three.
They also have a 15-1 record since Jan. 10.
They haven’t won back-to-back games since a 4-1 win on Feb, 16, 2016, in San Jose.
5.
The Blues are 3-3-1 after their 3-0 loss to San Jose in Game 6.
The Predators are 1-3 after a 4–2 loss at home to the Islanders on Saturday.
6.
In Game 5, the Blues led 3-4 at the half.
But then the Ducks scored twice in the third period.
The Oilers scored two unanswered goals in the final seconds to force overtime.
The third period saw the Predators lead 3-5.
7.
The Kings have had three straight games with a goal or assist in the shootout.
They led 3–0 at the break, but the Oilers scored three unanswered goals to give them a 4.5-1 lead at the end of the third.
8.
The Senators have won four in a span of three days.
They scored two in the first period and three more in the last.
The goal came off a tip-in from Jason Spezza, who scored a power-play goal at 10:35 of the second period to give the Senators a 3–2 win.
9.
The Flames have won six in a month and are riding a four-game winning streak.
They were tied at 1-1 at the start of February, but then won seven straight.
They’ll be looking to win their first playoff series since 2014, when the Flames were swept by the Boston Bruins.
10 and 11.
The Devils have won eight in a week.
They had a 3:08 to play in the game, but didn’t get the first shot.
The puck bounced off goalie Ilya Bryzgalov and into the net.
12.
The Canucks are 3–3-2 in their past five games.
The teams last meeting was April 2, 2019, when Vancouver defeated the Los Kings 2-2.
The win was the Canucks first road win in the regular season since January 12, 2017, against the Florida Panthers.
13.
The Sabres are 3‑4-1 this season after losing two in a three-game series to the Coyotes.
They fell in Game 7 of the first round to the St. Louis Blues, 2-3.
14.
The Rangers are 0-4-2 on the road after losing six straight games at home.
They lost Game 2 in Nashville.
15.
The Capitals are 2-4 in their last eight games after beating the Flyers in overtime 3-on-3 on Saturday night.
They are 3-3 in their final seven home games, going 2-6 in those games.
16.
The Stars are 4-2-1 with the first goal of the series tied at two.
They went 2-for-4 with two goals and two assists in a 5-2 win over the Sharks on Tuesday night.
17.
The Coyotes are 1-4 on the back of a three game winning skid.
They opened the season 3-for4 in regulation and 1-for–3 in overtime.
They finished the regular season 4-for‐4 in the month of January.
They play in Game 9 on Friday night.
18.
The Penguins are 2-5-0 after beating Boston on Wednesday night.
19.
The Lightning are 1–4 in two games.
They started the season 4-0 but were swept in Game 10 of the regularseason.
20.
The Blue Jackets are 1 1 in three games.
21.
The Jets are 2 11 in two games. 22. The