Guerin: 'No excuse whatsoever' for Wild's play of late

The Minnesota Wild may be fresh off a win over the Chicago Blackhawks, but general manager Bill Guerin still isn't impressed with the club's mediocre performance.

The Wild are 11-12-0 over their past 23 games. They've dealt with several key injuries over that span, but Guerin doesn't think a depleted roster or team fatigue is a valid excuse.

"No, f--k that. F--k that," Guerin told The Athletic's Michael Russo. "You can be low on energy and still play well. You've got to use your head. You know what? Everybody's tired. Everybody has a condensed schedule. Everybody has injuries. Everybody in the league has what we have. There's no excuse whatsoever for any of this."

Guerin also took issue with his team's lack of response to Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson punching veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in a loss on home ice Saturday.

"He had his way with us," Guerin said of Andersson. "Like, it was not fun to watch, I'll tell you that. The funny thing is that's not who this group of players is. It's really hard to figure out … but we're gonna figure it out."

The Wild currently hold the third spot in the Central Division with 62 points. They're in a neck-and-neck fight for positioning with the Dallas Stars (63 points) and Colorado Avalanche (60 points).

Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon recently returned to the Wild's lineup, but despite the boosts to the roster, Guerin still believes the club needs to play with more fire.

"Look, every team goes through their ups and downs of the season," Guerin said. "But I just don't love the way we're playing right now because there's no energy. We're on the perimeter, we're not doing the little detail things that are hard to do, but they allow you to win. I know our guys care. I know they work hard. But working hard and competing hard are two different things. We need more compete."