from Dan Mizutani of the Pioneer Press,

For the first time since Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signed matching 13-year, $98 million contracts on July 4, 2012, the Wild have failed to make the playoffs.

That much was guaranteed Tuesday night despite the fact that the Wild earned a dominant 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

“It’s tough,” Marcus Foligno said. “We played a really good game. It was just too little, too late in the season. We had a lot of chances at home to play like this and it catches up eventually.”

With the way the Wild have faltered down the stretch, especially over the last couple of weeks, they needed the Colorado Avalanche to lose to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Instead, the Avalanche cruised to a 6-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers to officially eliminate the Wild.

“Unfortunately, we’re in this spot right now,” Parise said in the locker room after the game, about 45 minutes or so before the Wild learned their fate. “I think everyone wishes we would have given ourselves a little bit more of a chance.”

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