ST. PAUL, Minn. _ Maybe it was the fight by rookie Nick Seeler, a heavyweight-style slugfest that was a throwback to when tussles like this crowded highlight reels as much as goals.
Or perhaps the finish by center Eric Staal did the trick, since the team's best delivery man picked an opportune time to capitalize.
Either way, the Wild were ignited _ as if their batteries had just been replaced _ and the change sparked them to a 4-1 win over the Red Wings Sunday in front of 19,037 at Xcel Energy Center to extinguish the team's two-game losing skid.
It also flipped the Wild back into the third spot in the Central Division, as the team dropped to the first wild-card slot during its slide.
A roughly three-and-a-half-minute stretch in the second period prevented that rough patch from continuing, as the Wild overcame a sleepy start and a deficit to hold off a Detroit team that was much tougher competition than its station in the standings (25th in the NHL with 62 points) suggested it would be.
The turnaround started during a delayed Red Wings' penalty when Seeler and winger Luke Witkowski dropped their gloves and traded blows that could have fit in a boxing match. Instead, they landed each in the penalty box for five minutes, with Seeler reporting there with blood on his forehead.
Down by one, the Wild finally found the equalizer on the ensuing power play when Staal deflected in a Jared Spurgeon throw toward the net 7 minutes, 22 seconds into the second.
It was Staal's eight goal in his last seven games and his 34th on the season, which is tied for the fourth-most in the NHL; 34 is also the most Staal has scored in a season since he buried 40 in 2008-09.
The goal also moved Staal into a tie for the third-most goals in a single season by a Wild player.
Only 2:53 later, and on the Wild's very next shot, the team moved ahead of Detroit when winger Zach Parise's one-timer off a feed from captain Mikko Koivu snuck by goalie Jimmy Howard.
With an assist on the play, winger Nino Niederreiter notched his 200th career point.
More than execution, the Wild finally had energy that was missing from its play in the first period. It was quick and was able to maintain possession in the Red Wings' zone, a far cry from the ho-hum beginning that looked unbefitting for a team looking to avoid a three-game losing streak.
Detroit, meanwhile, was aggressive _ with its legs and the puck _ and the team's tenaciousness was rewarded with a one-goal head start. Just 3:58 into the first, a block shot by defenseman Nate Prosser caromed to winger Justin Abdelkader and he wired the puck by goalie Devan Dubnyk.
The Red Wings could have pulled away even more, as they outshot the Wild 11-5 in the period and had a look on the power play; they finished 0 for 2, while the Wild were 1 for 3. But their lack of finish kept the door open for a Wild rally that included two third-period insurance goals.
Winger Mikael Granlund's shot slid five-hole on Howard at 15:42 to elevate him to the 20-goal plateau, and winger Jason Zucker secure an empty-netter with 3:38 to go for his 27th.
Howard ended up with 23 saves; Dubnyk had 28.
