The Devastating Collapse That Shocked Minnesota: What Really Went Wrong for the Wild

An overtime point can be a moral victory for a team that rallies late. That wasn’t the case for the Wild on Saturday.

The Wild had three separate leads in their highly-anticipated matchup against the Seattle Kraken. A team looking to make some noise in their division, Minnesota knew they had to capitalize on their scoring chances. However, their inability to hold onto leads doomed them in the end, as they fell to Seattle in an intense shootout loss.

As the final seconds ticked away in the third period, many would have taken that point for the Wild and called it a night. The fact that they managed to force overtime was no small feat. They had already burned through all the momentum they built earlier in the day, before their late-game collapse.

Just when Minnesota looked like they were back on track, they let their foot off the gas and allowed the Kraken to creep back into the contest. A demoralizing loss like this can sometimes be a serious reality check, especially for a team looking to prove themselves in the league.

With yet another game under their belt, the Wild have been left to ponder what could have been. Rather than dwelling on the negative, Minnesota can use this loss as an opportunity to regroup and focus on perfecting their late-game strategy.

While an overtime point is better than nothing, Minnesota knew they had this one in the bag. A win would have catapulted them into an even more favorable position in the division standings. With the chance to draw even closer to first place now out the window, they must look ahead to their next challenge.

The sting of defeat may linger for a while, but the Wild are already setting their sights on their next matchup, and it can’t come soon enough for a group of players itching to put this tough loss behind them and show the league what they’re truly capable of.