For a Minnesota Wild team outside the playoff picture, that performance — that effort — on Thursday night against a division rival directly in front of them in the standings was downright disturbing and absolutely alarming.



— No shots in the first 6 minutes, 51 seconds. Only one in the first 14 minutes.



— A scoreless game turns into a 3-0 deficit in a rapid-fire span of 2:22 of the second period, a period that included no Wild shots in the first 7:40.



— No shots and zero push during a 13-minute stretch of the third period when they should have been trying to fight back from a two-goal deficit.



The Wild — in what they themselves labeled a “must-win game” against the Dallas Stars — played with the urgency of a preseason game, not the urgency of a team that is 71 games into the season, had fallen out of a playoff spot two nights earlier and would find itself five points back of the Stars with a...