Minnesota got six, and entered Tuesday in 13th place in the Western Conference, five points behind eighth-place Calgary.

 

Now what?

 

Let's assume 95 points will be needed to make the playoffs, Minnesota must win at a near 70-percent clip the rest of the way to have a realistic chance of making the chase for the Stanley Cup.

 

Can they do it?

 

The Wild has earned at least one point in its last eight games at Xcel Energy Center and is 21-8-2 at home this season; however, Minnesota has lost an NHL-worst 19 road games in regulation. Of the team's 21 remaining games, 11 are on the road, including four sets of back-to-backs away from home.

 

"We're five points out. There are still other teams that are in between. But we have to worry about ourselves and our own backyard," coach Todd Richards told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We have to win our games. We can’t worry about these other teams we're chasing or that we're battling with or competing with. If we take care of our own business and we win our games, we'll put ourselves in a position to get into the playoffs."

 

Plus, they've been in enough tight games already this year that a few more may not be a problem. Minnesota is second in the league with 34 one-goal games, and tied for third in the league with 19 wins.

 

Before the team hits the ice Wednesday in Calgary, players will know the teammates they are going to battle with the rest of the season.

 

There was a lot of pre-Olympic speculation that GM Chuck Fletcher might be a seller as the trade deadline approaches. Among the names mentioned as possible trade bait were D Marek Zidlicky, G Josh Harding and maybe even a veteran like an Owen Nolan or Eric Belanger, who will be unrestricted free agents at the end of this season.

 

However, Zidlicky, arguably the team's top blue-liner, agreed to a three-year, $12 million extension Tuesday to take his name out of the mix.

 

“Marek logs a large number of minutes every night and also creates a lot of offense for our team,” Fletcher said in a statement. “We are excited he has agreed to continue to play with the Wild.”

 

Two days before the Olympic break, Fletcher traded Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy, the team's top pick last year, to Chicago for Cam Barker. Fletcher indicated it would be hard to sign Johnsson, an impending free agent, after the season. Plus, he was ecstatic to acquire the 23-year-old Barker, who is in the first year of a three-year deal that pays him about $3 million per season.

 

"I just think we have to stay consistent," said right wing Cal Clutterbuck, who signed a three-year extension during the Olympic break. "We know how we can play at our best and we have to be at our best 95 percent of the time. You're not going to play your best game all the time. But it has to be there a lot of the time." 

 

 

One bright spot in a borderline disappointing season in Calgary has been the steady play of G Miikka Kiprusoff. Many of his numbers are among the league leaders: 55 games played (second); 27 wins (ninth); 19 losses (sixth); nine overtime/shootout losses (second); and 2.18 goals against average (fourth). He was also the starting goaltender for Finland's Olympic team, going 3-2 in the tournament with a 2.64 goals-against average. Kipper averaged 75 games per year the past four seasons, so it will be interesting to see how well he holds up. … Jarome Iginla had five goals and two assists for Team Canada, including a pass to Sidney Crosby for the gold-medal winner. … Matt Stajan has signed a multi-year contract to stay with Calgary. Since joining the Flames in a Jan. 31 trade with Toronto, Stajan has two goals and two assists in seven games. "It felt like it was a great fit for me here on the ice and it's a great city," he said. … Rene Bourque recently signed a six-year contract extension, reported by TSN.ca to be worth $3.3 million per year. … Craig Conroy, who has missed 17 games this season with injuries to his wrist, foot and knee, is ready for the season's final six weeks after getting in shape during the break. "It was perfect. It gave me an extra week or so. With my knee, I just feel like OK now everything's healed up and we're ready to go. Hopefully I have a great 20 games." … Two recently acquired players – Ian White and Stajan – took a vacation to the Bahamas together. … The Flames play 20 games in 39 days to end the season.

 

 

Paul Stastny had a goal and two assists for Team USA at the Olympics. “It was great. We got so close to winning. It could go either way when you’re in overtime playing against Canada. You couldn’t ask for anything more except for a win. It went against us but you have to congratulate them because they had an unbelievable tournament. I thought we did too. But we were so close but at the same time it just didn’t go our way," he said. His father, Peter, played in the 1980 Olympics for Czechoslovakia and the 1994 Games with Slovakia. … Check out five quick questions with the younger Stastny. … Ruslan Salei was one of two NHLers on the Belarus Olympic roster. Given no chance by most prognosticators, Belarus nearly knocked off Sweden before falling 4-2 in the preliminary round. “You try to tell the guys that you can compete with anybody in the world. Until they feel that, it’s hard to explain it,” Salei said. “Our guys got more comfortable. They started to believe in themselves.” The Belarus captain finished the tournament with one goal in four games, averaging 22:36 in ice time. … Backup G Peter Budaj dressed as the backup goaltender in all seven games for Slovakia, but did not appear in any contest. It was the second straight Olympics for Budaj. … Jonas Holos, Colorado's sixth-round draft choice in 2008, averaged 28:56 of ice time in four Olympic games for Norway, leading all players in that category. He had one assist in the tournament. … Craig Anderson made his 17th consecutive start Monday, the longest streak by a goaltender in Avalanche history. The franchise mark is 26, set by Quebec’s Ron Tugnutt in 1990-91. … Brandon Yip suffered a shoulder injury Monday against Detroit and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. … F Matt Hendricks (ankle) and D Adam Foote (back) returned to the Avalanche lineup Monday. Milan Hejduk, who underwent an arthroscopic knee procedure and has not played since Jan. 11, woke up with a bad back and did not play. Defenseman Kyle Cumiskey (concussion) remains sidelined. … Watch a Foote video feature. … Matt Duchene has an eight-point lead on John Tavares in the rookie-scoring race entering the post-Olympic stretch. Duchene is minus-1 on the season; Tavares minus-18. … Before Monday's game with Detroit, former winger Valeri Kamensky was the 10th and final former player honored the Avalanche Alumni Association. He scored the first goal in Colorado history. … Rookie T.J. Galiardi is glad the coaches did not take it easy on the team leading up to Monday's game. “You need to be skated hard when you come back from a break,” he said. “You can’t just take it easy and then jump right into a game, because that’s where guys can get hurt. It’s been nice to get out there. Today we were pretty crisp, and for the day before a game that’s a good thing.” … A few of the Avalanche's young players and prospects reminisce about their biggest goal.

 

 

The Oilers' roster purge began Monday when the team traded D Denis Grebeshkov to Nashville for a 2010 second-round draft choice. (Listen to his reaction.) Will Ethan Moreau, Fernando Pisani and Sheldon Souray still be Oilers Wednesday afternoon? … J.F. Jacques had fluid removed from the site of last year's back surgery. He should return soon. … D Ladislav Smid has a bulging disc in his neck and is to visit a neurologist later this week to determine if he just needs a short rest or surgery before resuming play. … G Nikolai Khabibulin was arrested Feb. 8 in Scottsdale, Ariz. for extreme driving under the influence and speeding. Arizona law calls for elevation of a driving under the influence charge to extreme when the blood alcohol level exceeds 0.15 percent. A pre-trial conference is scheduled March 16. According to the Canadian Press, Oilers GM Steve Tambellini said the team was aware of the situation. "Nikolai has been fully cooperative with the authorities," Tambellini said in a statement. "Until the continuing legal process is completed we will have no further comment." It's the latest incident in an awful season for the 37-year-old goaltender. Signed to a four-year, $15 million deal in the offseason, Khabibulin played just 18 games before injuring his back, which has led to surgery. … Mike Comrie is engaged to entertainer Hilary Duff. Comrie reportedly gave the 22-year-old Duff an engagement ring while the duo was vacationing in Hawaii during the Olympic break. They've been dating for two years. … Edmonton recalled D Taylor Chorney, D Theo Peckham and G Devan Dubnyk from AHL Springfield Monday. G Bryan Pitton was reassigned to the Falcons.

 

 

One down, one to go for Roberto Luongo? Luongo stopped 34 of 36 shots, including four key saves in extra time, to backstop Team Canada past the United States 3-2 for the gold medal Sunday. Luongo replaced Martin Brodeur early in the tournament and won five games, positing a 1.76 GAA and a .927 save percentage. “You work hard your whole life for something like this and it’s nice to get rewarded. This medal’s not only for myself, but for Canada and obviously the people in Vancouver and the fans that have supported me since I first got here,” he said. Now can he follow his Olympic performance with a strong stretch run and stellar post-season play? … Nice ovation by the Olympic fans when Ryan Kesler was prevented his silver medal Sunday. One week earlier, he may have never been loved less in Vancouver when he lunged to score an empty-netter to secure the Team USA 5-3 win over Team Canada. ”We proved that it’s not just Canada’s game, we took them to overtime, we beat them once already and it was anybody’s game in overtime," he said. … D Sami Salo scored once to help Finland defeat Slovakia 5-3 for third place. “I feel great, it’s unbelievable. The goal has been for a few years to come here at the home rink and get a medal and it’s an unbelievable feeling, I can’t describe it with any words.” He also had one assist in the tournament and played a little more than 24 minutes per game. … Pavol Demitra struggled to stomach how the Slovakians failed to hold a 3-1 lead going into the third period of the bronze medal game, and went home without a medal. ”We fight for third place and being fourth is just like feeling like the biggest loser. Being fourth, that’s worse than being eighth," said Demitra, who had three goals and seven assists for a tournament-best 10 points. He scored on Slovakia’s seventh attempt in a shootout in a 2-1 win over Russia on Thursday. … Christian Ehroff had no points in four games for Team Germany. … Daniel Sedin was 1-2-3 and Henrik Sedin 0-2-2 in four games for Team Sweden. … Manitoba Moose LW Michael Grabner recently had his five-game goal streak stopped.

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