REPORT: Wild down but not out yet.

REPORT: Wild down but not out yet.

Things are not looking so hot for the Minnesota Wild. After two losses to the St Louis Blues at home to start their opening round playoff series, the Wild will have to win four of the next five games if they want to extend their season and move on in their quest for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship.

Luckily for the team, they have a leader in their dressing room who has been through this exact situation before and came out of it with a shiny Stanley Cup ring. Eric Staal is the only player on the Wild with a Stanley Cup championship on his resume and it just so happens that his Cup winning 2006 Carolina Hurricanes also found themselves down 2-0 in their first round series that season. The Hurricanes dropped games 1 and 2 at home against the Montreal Canadiens but then rallied to win of 4 of the next 5 games and claim the series. The rest, as they say, is history.

Also notable is the fact that head couch Bruce Boudreau has also found himself in similar circumstances and managed to pull through.

It was just last season that Boudreau found himself down 2-0 as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks in their first round series against the Nashville Predators. Boudreau and the Ducks would go on to win three straight, but ultimately lose the series in seven games. 

If there’s any hope for the Wild, they’ll need to rely on the experience of Staal and Boudreau to help weather the storm and get them back even with the Blues. They’re down…but not out.