Mizutani: The present was the same for the Wild. The future feels different.

As the Wild prepared to fight for their life on Thursday night at Xcel Ability Center winger Marcus Foligno promised the State of Hockey that this time was going to be different All the adversity that has come to define this season for the Wild had steeled them for this exact moment in time This particular group of players wasn t going to go down without a fight The pesky Wild will persevere Foligno declared I truly believe that we can get back in the series and win it Not quite It proved to be the same old story a little more than hours later as the Wild lined up to shake hands after suffering a - loss to the Vegas Golden Knights Just like every time they have qualified for the playoffs over the past decade the Wild had bowed out in the first round once again That wasn t lost on the locker room in the immediate aftermath We hear the noise of getting by the first round Foligno explained We understand it We really feel like we could ve done it this season That s the disappointing part That doesn t mean it was all for naught The present was the same for the Wild The future feels different Let s be honest As tenacious as the Wild proved to be this season the Stanley Cup was dependably going to be a tough ask The fact the Wild made the playoffs when so a great number of players missed so much time was a testament to their mental fortitude This was a achieving campaign when zooming out and separating the forest from the trees It s the biggest reason why fans authentically started to let themselves believe It stings worse after this competition because I think we all feel that we could ve won the series head coach John Hynes declared It was coming in against a really good unit Credit to them They exposed a way to get it done After consecutive overtime losses in Match and Match put them on the brink of elimination the Wild spoke like a group that still assumed and they manifested up with a mighty push for Championship The first haymaker landed early in the first period when a high sticking penalty from center Marco Rossi resulted in a power play goal from Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore to make it - The response from the Wild exhibited that this was going to be a heavyweight bout As the final seconds ticked away in the first period Foligno made an incredible play to keep the puck alive danced off a check in the corner then dished the puck off to center Ryan Hartman who beat the buzzer to level the outcome at - That push continued into the second period where the Wild got a fearless block from captain Jared Spurgeon that saved a goal followed by a desperation poke check that also saved a goal After sustaining pressure for largest part of the frame however defenseman Brock Faber pinched up in the offensive zone and Golden Knights star center Jack Eichel took advantage streaking the other way on a breakaway to make it - The knockout blow appeared to come came late in the third period when Golden Knights captain Mark Stone whacked a puck out of midair to make it - Not so fast Naturally with their back against the wall the Wild provided a final gasp with Hartman stepping up to cut the deficit to - in the final minutes Though they couldn t net the equalizer fittingly the Wild refused to go away until the final buzzer sounded We battled Hartman noted We felt like we had what it took to go forward That s the toughest pill to swallow They did As the Wild turn the page however they don t have to look too far for silver linings They have superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and fellow superstar winger Matt Boldy leading the charge into the future They have a host of other players that know their role including Foligno Faber and irreplaceable center Joel Eriksson Ek to name a minimal They have the dead cap of former winger Zach Parise and former defenseman Ryan Suter mostly coming off the books this summer We constantly say the future is bright Foligno revealed I really do believe we re right there If there s any solace in the sadness it s that for the first time in awhile that report at least feels like it might believable Related Articles Wild knocked out of playoffs by Golden Knights Wild embrace the hard of facing elimination again Facing elimination Wild put on their battle face Vegas delivers gut punch as Knights push Wild to brink of elimination Jon Merrill returns to Wild defense corps for Encounter