Wild's Evason after seventh straight loss: 'Same guys are not pulling their weight'

After dropping a seventh straight game on Sunday, frustrations are starting to boil over in the Minnesota Wild locker room.

A 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings extended Minnesota's skid, dropping it to 5-10-4 to start the season. The Wild have made the playoffs in each of the last four years and in 10 of the last 11 campaigns, so urgency is starting to set in for the club that is already seven points back of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.

"I think the frustration is turning to anger, obviously," head coach Dean Evason said post-game. "We've gotta change something. Can't just continue to be ''Well, it's a good effort, we outshot them, we had lots of chances.' We're still losing, so gotta find a way to win."

Minnesota outshot Detroit 38-23 and created 11 high-danger changes compared to the Red Wings' five.

The Wild entered Sunday with the NHL's worst penalty kill (66.7 per cent), and only hurt that total by allowing Detroit to find the back of the net twice in five opportunities with the man advantage.

"That's what pisses us off, right?" Evason said. "That's what makes you mad, that the same mistakes, same guys are not pulling their weight. Same mistakes that happen most nights and don't allow us to have a true, true chance of winning a hockey game."

Evason was specifically asked about the performance of forward Matt Boldy — who has just one goal and eight points in 11 games this season — and how they can give him the creativity and freedom that he showed in his first two years in the NHL.

"There's sometimes we'll take accountability, but there are sometimes where the player's gotta step up. I don't care how old you are, and I don't care what's going on," the coach said.

"Those guys get paid a lot of money to score goals and to play better and some guys aren't. We'll do what we can do from our end, but there's gotta be some looking in the mirror as well."

Evason wasn't the only one to sound off post-game. Three-time Stanley Cup champion and off-season addition Pat Maroon also let his feelings known, according to The Athletic's Joe Smith.

“Seven in a row. (F------) unacceptable… Guys should be pissed off," the 35-year-old forward said.

After being dealt By the Tampa Bay Lightning to Minnesota with Maxim Cajkovic for a seventh-round draft pick in 2024, Maroon has two goals and nine points in 19 games with his new team.

Maroon also took accountability for a "stupid" penalty he took in the third period, leading to a Red Wings goal and talked about the team needing to play with more pride, Smith reported.

The Wild will have their next shot at ending their slide on Tuesday — exactly three weeks from their last win — when they host the St. Louis Blues.