MN Wild Keep Focus For Game 5 In Chicago
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The Wild left St. Paul, Minn. on Saturday with a very different feeling than when they arrived earlier in the week.
"Obviously our guys are feeling pretty good right now," coach Mike Yeo said.
Yet, Yeo's message to his team heading back to Chicago for Game 5 of the 2-2 series is one of caution.
"I just have to be so careful that you don't let yourself feel too good. You can't let your guard down. And, this is the same team that we're playing that won the Stanley Cup last year," he said. "And this is the same team that in Games 1 and 2 had us frustrated."
"I mean it's a huge game," Wild forward Dany Heatley said. "I don't feel the vibe in here that we're too confident or we're cocky right now. We know they're a very good team, they play well in their rink. We're going to be prepared for that."
Part of that preparation is learning from the last series.
"And I thought we kind of came out with a little bit of a flat effort when we went into Game 5 (in Colorado) after a similar situation in Round 1," Yeo said.
So he's excited to see what the group can do when they go into Game 5 in Chicago.
"We went to Colorado that time and we kind of thought that it's just going to happen automatically," Wild forward Nino Niederreiter said. "And we have to make sure we don't go in with that attitude. We have to make sure we play our game the same way we play at home and make sure we make the little things right."
The Wild will be back here at home for at least one more game, Game 6, regardless of what happens Sunday night in Game 5.
The question though, will they be facing elimination?