We'll find out during back-to-back games Thursday in Philadelphia and Friday in Washington, D.C., if this was indeed just a "bump in the road" like John Torchetti said (and hopes) or if the Wild, an oh-so fragile team the past six weeks, crumbles yet again.
Every team loses, but the Wild made losing a habit during a 2016 stretch of 16 of 19 losses that ultimately cost Mike Yeo his job.
Tonight, after four consecutive feel-good routs in western Canada and then the outdoor game, returned to the House of Horrors that is Xcel Energy Center. Maybe Target Center can build an ice sheet for the Wild the rest of the season.
The Wild has lost nine consecutive games in St. Paul since beating Detroit on Dec. 28. That win gave the Wild a 14-5-1 home record. The Wild's now 15-11-4 at home (the one win at TCF Bank Stadium), going 0-6-3 in its past nine.
Plain and simple: if the Wild doesn't start winning games on home ice, it's three-year playoff run will come to an end. This is getting ridiculous and is a big reason why Nashville, which has points now in seven straight, has expanded its lead for the top wildcard position to five points over the Wild. Minnesota remains two back of eighth-place Colorado with two games in a hand.
"I don't think it'll be anybody's surprise if we don't pick it up here at home that we probably won't make it," veteran Jarret Stoll said. "That's the honest truth. We've got to pick up our home record, our home game in front of our great fans. They're very, very loyal fans that have been around supporting this team forever. And we really, really appreciate that. We just have to play better in front of them. The road trip we had, we played great. We won all three games, played great, had confidence. There's no reason tonight after the outdoor game that we couldn't come out here and have a great effort. It's disappointing."
The Wild was horrific with the special teams tonight. The Wild went 0 for 5 on the power play against the Isles' top-ranked penalty kill, a PK more aggressive than any team I've seen. They challenge the pointmen bigtime and pound ya even when you have possession. Remember, this was a power play that had scored in 11 of the previous 13 games and was clicking at 24 percent in those games.
The Wild's passive PK gave up two goals on three shots. Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Carter and Stoll were on for both goals against. The Wild also gave up a shorthanded empty-netter.
The Islanders, 6-1-1 in their past eight, played a heck of a road game. The Wild actually had the better of the chances in the first period, but the Islanders swarmed the Wild with physical play and got an early goal from Matt Martin after a seemingly harmless dump-in that banked off Devan Dubnyk's right pad and right to the rugged forward.
The Wild has a NHL-worst .115 win percentage (3-17-6) when giving up the game's first goal. That lead became 2-0 on Frans Nielsen's power-play goal.
Chris Porter's goal with 27 seconds left in the second should have made it a game, but Erik Haula took a penalty 1:56 into the third and John Tavares made it 3-1 when Anders Lee parked himself in front of the net and could not be moved by Suter or Spurgeon.
The Islanders blocked 22 Wild shots – nine by Suter and Matt Dumba. Zach Parise, who hasn't scored at home since Jan. 10, had one shot. Charlie Coyle had a very difficult game and finished with no shots. Suter had no shots on goal.
Torchetti said there was no talking on the ice, which led to no puck support and thus no puck possession.
"We just kept trying to do everything one-on-one," he said. "We had no pushback."
Said Stoll, "We were too lackadaisical with the puck in our zone, in the neutral zone. We weren't forcing those plays north, we weren't pushing the puck."
It has been 57 days since the Wild has won in St. Paul. Torchetti said it must be solved.
But first things first, the Wild needs to bounce back Thursday in Philly.
"It's on us, on the players in the room to refocus," Porter said. "The last road trip was great for us. We want to regain that energy, that focus we had. There's a new voice behind the bench and he was positive throughout trying to change things up."
Said Coyle, "We can't drop and have our confidence drop. We have to raise back up and get that next one."
In some likely bad news, GM Chuck Fletcher told me it's unlikely Jason Zucker is on the road trip, but Torchetti should offer an update Wednesday from Philly.
That's it from me. I'm sitting down with Yeo on Wednesday morning and will toss up a blog before my flight.
Also, if you want to hear a fun podcast with Chad Graff and Anthony LaPanta, here's a link.
