In Elmont, the Minnesota Wild scored twice in a 42 second span to snap a 2-2 tie with the Islanders on Tuesday night and send Minnesota to a 4-2 win.
“We played really well right from the start. Probably the first game that we started correctly and rolled the lines,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “… Again, I liked the way that the group just kept doing the same things throughout the night. Special teams were good, so, a lot of positives.”
Kirill Kaprizov scored off the power play at 6:50 of the third, and Joel Eriksson Ek scored at 7:32 for the Wild for the 4-2 score.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves in the win.
The Wild moved to 5-5-2.
Minnesota scored with 19 seconds of fresh game ice used with a strike by Pat Maroon for a 1-0 lead.
“That’s just our identity right there,” Maroon said. “Get it in, forecheck. Get it over, east-west. Eriksson Ek makes a [heck] of a play, and it’s in the back of the net. That’s how we are supposed to play.”
Noah Dobson scored with nine minutes left in the first to tie it for the Islanders, 1-1.
“We’re shooting ourselves in the foot a bit in the third period,” Dobson said. “Last couple of games we played a really good 40 (minutes). Probably should have taken advantage of a couple of chances in the second. We couldn’t bury it, and they get one on the power play. We just have to manage the third periods a little better.”
The Islanders dropped to 5-3-3.
“I think at times we are and then I think at times we get away from it,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said when asked if his team is playing to its identity. “So, that’s where the inconsistencies come in and a little bit of the defensive zone time. … But the consistency of the identity has not been there for me. Not yet.
“It’s certainly something we have to address. You know, it hasn’t necessarily been a big issue up until now, but you know, everybody has to look in the mirror and we stick together. We win as a team, we lose as a team, and we move forward as a team.”
Oliver Wahlstrom scored off the power play at 8:34 of the middle frame to tie give the Isles a 2-1 lead.
The Wild’s Vinni Lettieri tied it, 2-2, at 12:03 in the second period.
“I don’t think we’ve necessarily been doing anything too bad, it’s just that we weren’t doing what our strengths are,” said Lettieri. “And I think the last two games we’ve been building on our strengths, which is being a forechecking team and taking what’s there. As you can see, when we do that, we’re hard to play against.”
Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves in the loss.
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