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Playoff race pressure on after Wild lay egg in loss in Flames

Originally posted on Bring Me The News | By Joe Nelson | Last updated Apr 12, 2025 9:38 AM ET

The Minnesota Wild's 4-2 loss to the Calgary Flames Friday night could come back to bite them as they look to clinch a playoff spot.

With only two games to go, the Wild are tied with the St. Louis Blues at 93 points. The two clubs control the wild-card spots in the Western Conference, but Calgary is only four points behind.

The big difference: Minnesota and St. Louis each have two games left, while the Flames have three to go. That means the maximum number of points the Wild and Blues can finish with is 97, while the Flames can get to 96. Any misstep now could open the door for the Flames to jump the Wild or Blues.

Wild head coach John Hynes wasn't pleased with his team's effort.

"To me, the last two games, the commitment to playing the way that you need to win and the way that we need to play to win, wasn't at a high enough level. We need to make sure that that's there tomorrow," Hynes said.

Minnesota defeated San Jose 8-7 in overtime on Wednesday. The two points were critical, but the Wild blew a 7-4 lead in the third period and needed overtime heroics from Kirill Kaprizov to secure the victory.

Hynes expects a much better effort Saturday when the Wild play Vancouver.

"Tonight we were the second-most competitive team on the ice," Hynes said. "That's not really who we are and who we've been but we've got to make sure that's going to be different tomorrow night."

Remaining schedules:

Wild: at Vancouver Saturday, vs. Anaheim Tuesday

Blues: at Seattle Saturday, vs. Utah Tuesday

Flames: vs. San Jose Sunday, vs. Vegas Tuesday, at Los Angeles Thursday

Although the door is still open for Calgary, the Wild still has a 92% chance to make the playoffs, according to MoneyPuck. Calgary's playoff odds are just over 18%.

This article first appeared on Bring Me The News and was syndicated with permission.

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