Back from a 14-game absence because of surgery to repair a fractured jaw, Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard looks as good as ever, with two goals and six points in three games.

That gives the top overall pick in last summer’s entry draft 17 goals and 39 points in 42 games, and likely solidifies his spot as the leading candidate to be NHL rookie of the year. But it doesn’t denigrate anything rookies Brock Faber and Marco Rossi have done for the Wild this season.

Rossi scored a pair of goals in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss at Winnipeg, and has four in his past five games, tying him with Faber with 33 points — second to Bedard among NHL rookies this season.

If the Wild are going to solidify an elusive playoff spot, they’ll need more of the same from their rookies, who have held up their ends as essential pieces in the Wild’s plans to make their fourth straight postseason appearance this season.

The Wild are 5-1-1 since returning from the all-star break on Feb. 7, and have moved three spots higher in the Western Conference — two points out of the second wild card before Wednesday’s games.

But while they beat the best team in the NHL on Monday, rallying to beat Vancouver 10-7 at Xcel Energy Center, they have surrendered a combined 13 goals in their past two games, falling behind by three goals early in each.

“It’s not ideal to chase the games,” head coach John Hynes told reporters Tuesday night at the Jets’ Canada Life Centre, “but I think we’ve shown that we can generate offense against those kinds of teams — and that is part of games, you have to come from behind.

“But ideally, you’d like to be able to play with a lead, or an even game. So, we’ll look at that. But I think from an attacking offensive perspective, and doing the things you need to win games, I think we did a lot of good things these past two games.”

Another issue has been Minnesota’s performance against conference rivals. Overall, they’re 13-14 against teams in the West, but they’re 0-7-0 against the top three teams in the Central Division, and 6-11-0 against the teams ahead of them in the race for a conference playoff spot with two big games on tap this weekend — at Edmonton on Friday and in Seattle on Saturday.

“We want to be in a playoff spot, and we know we have to beat those teams,” Rossi told reporters on Tuesday. “So, I think, hopefully, it’s a lesson for us and it won’t happen again. I think next time we’re going to be a hundred percent ready for that.”

The Wild are 1-1-0 against the Oilers, each winning at home, but Edmonton on Wednesday had won 7 of 10 and is 17-6-1 at Rogers Place. Their 150 goals-against ranked sixth in the NHL, and their power-play success of 26.8 percent was fourth.

The Wild are 5-2-0 against the top four teams in the East, but other than their 2-1-0 record against Vancouver, they’ve struggled against teams they likely would face if they make the playoffs.

“We’re a confident group,” Faber told reporters on Tuesday. “Right now, we’re just trying to battle to get in the playoffs. But if we were to get there, we’ve got to be confident that we can go on a run from there.”

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