NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Wild’s 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday was just the first step in what Minnesota believes will be a surge that will put the team right into the Western Conference playoff picture.

But after three weeks without a single win, it worked like burning sage works on bad vibes.

“It’s one game, but, obviously, you go through a few weeks there where you forget what it even feels like to win,” rookie defenseman Brock Faber said after Wednesday’s practice. “Fans aren’t happy with us, there’s things all over Twitter and social media. It’s tough.”

It wasn’t just the losses, either. As the skid grew longer — ultimately 11 losses in 13 games — the negativity surrounding the team deepened, and in the end cost head coach Dean Evason his job.

The next small step was scheduled for Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena, where the Wild were set to play the streaking Nashville Predators, winners of their previous six games.

“I think there’s a lot of outside noise that you sort of have to block out,” veteran defenseman and team captain Jared Spurgeon said after Thursday’s morning skate. “I try to stay off all social media and all that stuff, and not get into that. You have a feeling within the room with how things are going, especially when you’ve been around longer, you sort of have an idea of the pressure you get put under.”

Injured in an Oct. 5 preseason game, Spurgeon returned just as the noise was building, playing five full games before tasting a victory.

“You never want to be a part of that, but to come back and get thrown right back into the thick of things, it was obviously difficult,” he said. “But we were focused last game.”

Tuesday’s victory was Minnesota’s first since Nov. 7, and marked a successful debut for new head coach John Hynes. The Wild were strong from top to bottom, outshooting the Blues 37-25 while killing eight minutes worth of power plays.

“We’re looking to dig in here and get back into a spot where we’re a team that can compete for the playoffs — and go even further,” Faber said.

Streaking

The Wild started the game trying to build a winning streak, and the Predators have shown them it can be done. Nashville started Thursday’s game with six straight wins but before that had lost 6 of 7.

“There’s bad stretches during an 82-game season, it’s just the reality of the game,” Wild center Connor Dewar said. “Every team goes through it. Hopefully, that was our stretch and it doesn’t happen again.”

After the Predators beat Pittsburgh on Flip Forsberg’s overtime goal on Tuesday, Predators coach Andrew Brunette told reporters, “It definitely brings confidence and a good feeling when you’re winning. It’s amazing in this game and in any sport, how that kind of happens.”

That’s the side the Wild want to get to.

“That’s the way hockey gets,” Dewar said.

Briefly

Center Ryan Hartman served the second game of a two-game suspension for slew-footing Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat. He’ll be eligible to return for Sunday’s 1 p.m. game against Chicago at Xcel Energy Center. … The Wild kept the personnel from Tuesday’s win intact. The goaltender was Filip Gustavsson. The lines were Kirill Kaprizov, Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello; Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson; Marcus Foligno, Freddy Gaudreau and Pat Maroon; and Brandon Duhaime, Dewar and Vinni Lettieri. Alex Goligoski remained on the blue line.

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