ST. PAUL, Minn. _ The Wild's preseason Stanley Cup talk gave way to a disappointing start, with two wins in seven games, a pile of injuries and plenty of uninspired play.
"We can't be mediocre, and right now we're a mediocre team," coach Bruce Boudreau said Thursday morning.
By night's end, the Wild looked fully inspired, after taking advantage of the New York Islanders' repeated sloppiness in a 6-4 victory at Xcel Energy Center.
The Wild built a 3-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game, overcame an overturned goal _ what would have been Chris Stewart's seventh goal of the season _ and withstood New York's comeback attempts.
Luke Kunin and Zack Mitchell each scored their first NHL goal for the Wild, who improved to 1-1 on their six-game homestand.
The Islanders (5-4-1) entered with a three-game winning streak but kept sabotaging themselves on the power play.
The Wild (3-3-2) got short-handed goals from Eric Staal and Kunin and kept the Islanders scoreless on five power-play chances. New York entered with the second worst power play in the NHL and has now converted just 2 of 33 chances this season.
If the Wild needs any proof that a poor start can derail an entire season, just ask the Islanders. Last year, New York's 3-5 start became 6-10. The Islanders had a remarkable finish, winning their final six games, and missed the playoffs _ by one point.
"We knew we had to come in here flying this year," said Islanders winger Anders Lee.
The Wild came out flying in this one, two nights after a lethargic, 1-0 loss to Vancouver to start the six-game homestand.
The first two goals came after bad clearing attempts by Islanders defensemen. Jared Spurgeon corralled the first one, shot from the point, and Marcus Foligno scored the rebound goal from his stomach.
Mikael Granlund gathered the next turnover, made a quick move shifting from his forehand to backhand before slipping a pass to Jason Zucker for the goal.
Then came another gaffe from the Islanders defense. With a man advantage, Nick Leddy couldn't keep a bouncing puck inside the blue line. Staal sped past him on the breakaway and made a quick move to deke Thomas Greiss for the goal.
The rout seemed to be on, with the Wild holding a 13-1 shots advantage. But the Islanders came alive with a goal from Anthony Beauvillier. Then Stewart's wraparound goal was disallowed.
Islanders coach Doug Weight used his challenge, and the officials waved off the goal, calling goaltender interference on Foligno. The Wild newcomer, nicknamed "Moose," had crashed the net, knocking Casey Cizikas into Greiss, dropping them both.
The Wild eventually did stretch their lead to 4-1, as Staal took advantage of another turnover by the Islanders' top power-play unit. Staal grabbed the puck, starting a 2-on-1 and fed Kunin for the goal.
Nick Leddy scored a goal and fed Lee for another goal in the third period, but Mitchell and Jonas Brodin scored third-period goals, locking up the win.
