Everything is a little tighter come playoff time. Mistakes are more magnified, and goals are more celebrated. And penalty killing can be the difference between a tee time and a trophy. That’s something playoff-bound teams need to prepare to handle.

The Wild’s scoring slump is once again costing them. They were stumped 3-2 in overtime Thursday at Xcel Energy Center by a struggling Rangers team that had dropped four in a row. In the Wild’s six losses over their past nine games,