Minnesota Wild coach Mike Yeo opened practice Monday with an impassioned, expletive-laced speech to his players, a fiery tirade about their recent poor performance.
Losers of six of their past seven games, the Wild spent the bulk of practice on their defensive zone play Monday. "We spend all game there, so we might as well be good at it," Yeo told his players.
The Wild play the Blackhawks on Tuesday in Chicago.
The Wild's slump reached worrisome levels Saturday when the team blew a 3-0 lead in the third period of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars.