The Wild made a run to the second round this year, playing a top-five team in both playoff series they were in. In the first round, they ran into the Dallas Stars, who were seeded higher on our side of the bracket. The Wild took game one convincingly with a blowout win on the road. Then, after losing games two and three, one in double overtime in heartbreaking fashion, the Wild were able to get a huge goal by Matt Boldy in overtime to win game four at home. That evened the series and helped give fans hope, even going on the road. The Wild got a big win behind performances of three points from Kirill Kaprizov and two points from Matt Boldy. That brought them to the game to clinch their first playoff series win since 2011. In game 6, it was close, physical hockey. Two goals from star defenseman Quinn Hughes and a goal that made it 50 career playoff goals for Vladimir Tarasenko pushed the Wild through to the next round, as well as two empty netters from Matt Boldy.

The Wild ran into the top-seeded, best team in the league, the Colorado Avalanche, in the second round. A team that is full of superstars and plays with a speed that is different from anyone else in the league. After a 15-goal game one, the Wild had to settle in from the 9-6 loss. They decided to go with a different goaltender for game 2, and it unfortunately did not pay off. Win a better defensive effort in game two, they still took a loss. Going back to Jesper Wallstedt at goalie in the third game worked very well, though. He had an amazing performance and got the Wild a huge win in game 3. While exciting, that would prove to be the only success that the Wild would have for the rest of the series, losing it in five games, even while keeping the last 2 games close. Blowing a 3-0 game 5 lead also contributed to the hurt that Minnesota fans felt.

The good thing for Wild fans is that they have some young players with extremely bright futures. A few defensemen who had an amazing season and playoff performance were Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes. Both of these guys were playing among the best in the league down the stretch this year, which is really promising for next year. The Wild also had some forwards like Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov, and Mats Zuccarello perform well and gain a lot more playoff experience, hopefully heading into a deeper run next year.