Matt Boldy's shot smacked right into the crossbar, what could have been just another gut-punch to the Wild who were beginning to be plagued by bad breaks almost as much as poor play during their season-long skid.
But then something unusual happened.
The puck finally bounced their way.
After hitting the post, Boldy's shot crashed into the back of unsuspecting Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick and rolled into the net.
One split save from goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury later, and the Wild secured a much-needed but also well-deserved 5-4 shootout victory on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center to end their four-game slide.
"It was our game," Fleury said.
Yes, an evening that started with the Wild getting bombarded by three goals on four shots in a breezy 3 minutes, 17 seconds ended in their favor, and it was a fitting result.
Why?
Because of the way the Wild responded.
And the puck luck they picked up along the way, that was merited, too.
"The last couple games we were unlucky with the bounces," Marco Rossi said. "Now it's on our side."
On their own streak, albeit the six straight win variety, New York arrived as advertised and established control quickly in the first period.
A puck deflected in off Jimmy Vesey at 3:36, Artemi Panarin extended his point streak to 11 games on a seeing-eye shot at 5:52 and just 1:01 after that Erik Gustafsson converted off the rush.
That chased goaltender Filip Gustavsson from the game; he left after making just one stop on four shots, and Fleury took over in relief.
Although the Wild's power play whiffed on three power plays later in the first (0-for-4 overall), they generated pressure and the penalty kill passed its only test of the night to prevent any further damage.
"I think that had as much momentum-shifting powers as anything else in the game," coach Dean Evason said of the PK.
Eventually, those sparks ignited into a two-goal, 29-second outburst in the second period: Ryan Hartman nudged a puck on the goal line all the way into the net at 5:57 for his team-leading seventh goal and then on the very next shift, rookie Brock Faber set up Joel Eriksson Ek for a tap-in at 6:26.
"Goals like that are huge," Boldy said, "especially when you can jump them right on top of each other one after another. It's a huge difference-maker in the game."
Fast forward to the third period, and Mats Zuccarello tipped a puck by Quick (36 saves) at 1:41 before Kirill Kaprizov's pass took a fortuitous hop off a broken stick to Rossi for a one-timer at 5:20; Rossi's five goals are tied for tops among NHL rookies with the Blackhawks' Connor Bedard.
"What we liked is we just kept working," Evason said, "and if things didn't turn, obviously we'd be disappointed. But we couldn't be disappointed in how we played tonight and how hard we played and how gritty we played and how determined we played."
Even after the Rangers answered back on a Chris Kreider deflection at 6:40, the Wild didn't look defeated.
In fact, they still were the more assertive side and after a scoreless 3-on-3 overtime session, the score finally caught up to the feel of the game.
Zuccarello and Panarin capitalized on their attempts and after Kaprizov and Mika Zibanejad were denied, Boldy picked up his second career shootout goal and Fleury (after making 13 saves through regulation and overtime) stretched out to stymie Vincent Trocheck.
"I just tried to wait, be patient and try to react what they bring to me," said Fleury, who is at 546 career wins and only six away from passing Patrick Roy for the second most all time.
This was only the Wild's 10th three-goal comeback win in team history, but the more relevant number is one victory, period.
That's what it took to end this rut, and that's all that's required to start a streak in the opposite direction.
"The hardest is the first win, to get it back," Rossi said. "We have a lot of confidence right now. Now we just try to keep it rolling."
