Wild continue stretch of playoff consistency, if not success, with 10th berth in 11 years
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- In fitting fashion for Minnesota sports, the Wild backed into the playoffs Monday night despite losing to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The division-leading Dallas Stars lost to the Colorado Avalanche -- who are also jockeying atop the Central division -- ensuring the Wild will play in the postseason.
Quietly, the Wild have been one of Minnesota's most consistent teams over the last decade or so. Only the Minnesota Lynx, who made the playoffs in 11 straight seasons from 2011-2021, made it to six WNBA Finals and won four of them, have a more impressive resume over that time.
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The Timberwolves -- who, mind you, are 11 years older than the Wild -- have made the playoffs 10 times in their entire history. They had a streak similar to the Wild's in the early aughts, making the postseason in eight straight years, but failing to advance past the first round in seven of them. The eighth berth was the most fruitful, with the team advancing to the Western Conference Finals, but falling in six games to Kobe and Shaq's Lakers.
The Twins can boast being the only major men's team in Minnesota to win a championship. Since their first World Series win in 1987, they've made the playoffs fewer times than the Wild. Counting '87, they've played October baseball 11 times in 37 years. Sure, they added another World Series in 1991, but aside from that, they racked up only three playoff wins in that time.
Sad as it seems, we can probably put the woebegone Vikings third behind the Lynx and Wild in terms of postseason success over the past decade. Since 2012, they've made the playoffs in five of 11 seasons, notching two playoff wins in that time and coming one game from the Super Bowl after the 2017 season.
Now, before we give the Wild their flowers, let's note that making the playoffs and having playoff success are two very different things. In six of the 10 postseasons, the Wild were bounced in the opening round. They haven't advanced to the second round since 2014-2015, and they haven't gone past that round during this stretch.
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There is reason to believe the Wild could make more noise than usual this year. They boast a pair of stellar scorers in Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, who have put 39 and 30 in the net, respectively. Kaprizov has been injured, but reportedly has a good chance to return before the playoffs, if not sooner. Their young goalie, Filip Gustavsson, has the second-best save percentage (.932) and goals against average (2.03) in the NHL.
The Wild's ability to consistently compete has been impressive, but fans are ready for them to take the next step. Another first-round exit might send fans into apoplexy. A competitive second round might at least tame them, but a deep run would go a long way toward proving this team is not just stagnantly ambitious, but progressively dangerous.
