DALLAS — Four games into the season, the Minnesota Wild have been a tale of two, uh, strengths.

On the power play, they look like the second coming of the 1980s Edmonton Oilers. At even strength, they look like a reincarnation of the late-1990s Tampa Bay Lightning.

OK, OK, maybe not that bad, because they are getting chances, at least. But they certainly haven’t been able to score.

Minnesota has gone three games without a five-on-five goal, its past nine goals coming on the power play. Nine consecutive power-play goals are tied for the third-longest streak in the NHL since the 1933-34 season. The Wild scored four power-play goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets, three against the Los Angeles Kings and two in the third period against the Dallas Stars to spark a comeback attempt that could not be completed by game’s end.

All tallied, the Wild have 10 power-play goals and a 47.6 percent conversion rate — both best in the NHL. But what’s the deal at even strength, where they’ve scored only 28.6 percent of their goals?

“It’ll come,” vowed Matt Boldy, the first player in team history to score in each of the season’s first four games. “Yeah, it’ll come.”

Boldy has reason to believe. The Wild are piling up the shots (35 per game, third in the league), including a franchise-record 52 against Columbus and 40 against Dallas. However, both of those games resulted in regulation losses for the 2-2-0 Wild, with the latest coming in Tuesday’s 5-2 defeat against the Stars to start a five-game road trip.

The reality is that just like their scorching hot power play, the lack of finish comes in a small sample size, and the team’s five-on-five play has pressured enough to draw a league-high 21 power plays.

“It’s not for a lack of offensive-zone time. It’s not for a lack of shots. It’s not for a lack of opportunities,” coach John Hynes said of the Wild’s even-strength lack of output (four goals opening night in St. Louis, none since). “Right now, we’ve got to continue to look through it. I think that when you’re not getting them and you’re not having the pressure, then there’s probably another issue.

“So I think we’ve just got to stay with it. It’s a few games in here, but I would say that if there was no offensive pressure, then I think it would be probably a little bit more concerning than it is right now.”

According to Sportlogiq, though, the Wild definitely need to do a better job getting to the inner slot. In 26:17 of power-play time over the past three games, the Wild have eight inner-slot shots and 33 in all, with nine goals. In 138:28 of five-on-five time, they’ve gotten nine inner-slot shots and 78 in all, with zero goals.

Absolutely Wild splits… pic.twitter.com/TpHWTkmUCP

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) October 15, 2025

“I think we’re not executing as well as we could be,” defenseman Jake Middleton said after Tuesday’s loss. “I know it’s early in the year, and we do have to find that quicker than now, but it’s one of those things where we’re trying. Like, the first 10 minutes of that game, what did we have: Three Grade A’s? Four Grade A’s? It’s there. The work ethic’s there. I think we’ve just got to start executing and the tide will change for us.”

Middleton’s not wrong. Boldy, who had 10 shots and 17 shot attempts Tuesday night, had three great looks on his opening shift. Same with Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi. Jake Oettinger had to make seven sharp saves in the first couple of minutes.

“I mean, sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t,” said rookie Zeev Buium, who had two assists, drew a penalty, had two shots and looks to be playing more confidently at even strength. “The first 10 minutes of that period, where you’re getting so many shots to the net and a lot of good looks, and sometimes it just doesn’t go in. We started making really good plays in the third period, and hanging onto pucks, making plays, and we have so many skill guys in this room, I think if they just trust each other and trust ourselves, we can make more plays and just sustain O-zone time, and we’ll probably see more going in the back of the net.”

There’s no doubt Mats Zuccarello’s early-season injury hurts. The Wild’s second line (Joel Eriksson Ek and Vladimir Tarasenko with Marcus Foligno the first two games and Marcus Johansson the past two) has no even-strength points through four games. Down 3-0 on Tuesday night, Hynes had to separate Kaprizov and Boldy, who have a combined 17 points, to spread the wealth.

It felt like just a matter of time with how completely ineffective the second line has been. And in this game in particular, Johansson, Eriksson Ek and Tarasenko also were largely responsible for both of Dallas’ first-period goals — one in which they were directly guilty and the other in which Eriksson Ek’s penalty led to a power-play goal.

“All of us need to find ways to play better on the five-on-five,” Tarasenko said. “Power play is nice, and thankful it’s kinda working now, but we need to improve our five-on-five game.”

Tarasenko has not looked sharp at times. Like in the preseason, he’s losing board battles and hasn’t generated many even-strength chances.

Hynes was quick to defend him Tuesday night, though.

“I see lots of good in this game,” the coach said. “I think he’s a good player. I think he plays a winning style of hockey. Now that we have a few days in between (games), I know he’s gonna sit down and we’ll show some individual clips with him and try to help him. But I don’t think he’s too far off. I just think there’s maybe a couple things we can help him with and get his opinion on things and see if we can get it up and running a little bit quicker.”

There’s no doubt that after Hynes started playing Rossi and Boldy with Johansson and Kaprizov with Eriksson Ek and Tarasenko, the Wild started to sustain more pressure Tuesday, especially in the third period. Hynes liked Minnesota’s style of game and energy. So the coaching staff will evaluate whether to keep these new line combinations intact Friday night in Washington. We’ll likely learn what he has planned at Thursday’s practice; the Wild used Wednesday as a travel day before a team dinner in D.C.

“We have so many guys that are talented and can make plays and work and win battles,” Boldy said. “So, whatever’s best for the team. I think we do a pretty good job of spreading that wealth with everyone, and when stuff’s not going in, switching lines a little bit and getting a different feel with other guys. So, it’s a luxury we have that (where) we can switch and still play with guys and be productive.”

Overall, Hynes liked the Wild’s game and no-quit demeanor in a tough back-to-back. The Wild played the Kings into a shootout Monday night, then flew to Dallas to play the Stars in their home opener. The Wild were also delayed leaving MSP because personnel had trouble loading the Wild’s luggage and gear, so the team didn’t get to its hotel until close to 3 a.m.

“I talked to the team after the game,” Hynes said. “I mean, down 3-nothing in the back-to-back versus a rested team, we came out and we were ready to play, and I give the guys credit for that. And then we came out, we made a strong push. Like, there was no mail-in. I thought that we easily could have tied the game, but we didn’t. So I think, from that standpoint, to me, the takeaway is you don’t really like the result, but I also think that there’s lots of things in this game to take out of that I think can help us move forward.”