A return home might have cured the Wild's losing skid, but the change of scenery didn't exactly get the team back to the level it was at before its disastrous trip to Colorado.
The Wild bounced back into the win column on Monday, scooting by the Ducks 2-1 at Xcel Energy Center for its ninth straight win at home — a new franchise record.
But to earn that result, the Wild had to rally against last-place Anaheim in a dreary plod that proved the team is still searching for its game after getting off track on the road.
Winger Nick Bjugstad served up the go-ahead goal in the third period after defenseman Ryan Suter tied the game at 1 late in the second on the power play. Cam Talbot made 24 saves to improve to 5-0 at Xcel Energy Center this season, while his counterpart Ryan Miller had 21 stops for the Ducks.
This was a surprisingly subdued showing from the Wild considering what the team was trying to move past.
Not once but twice the team was steamrolled by the Avalanche last week, getting creamed 5-1 and then 6-0 to come home emptyhanded from its two-game trek.
As discombobulated as the Wild looked, the team was facing one of the better teams in the league — let alone the West Division. Resetting at home, where the team has thrived, against the West's worst team seemed like a perfect opportunity for the Wild to rediscover the crisp, high-octane style that headlined a recent five-game win streak and helped lift it into contention for the division title.
But that wasn't the script that played out.
The Wild didn't set an eager tone in the first period, a slow-motion start that appeared to suit the Ducks.
And they were the first to capitalize on the placid pace.
After winger Mats Zuccarello lost his footing in the neutral zone, Troy Terry picked up the puck, poked it by Suter and then went to his backhand on a partial breakaway to put Anaheim up 1-0 at 5 minutes, 17 seconds of the second period.
Soon after that goal, the Wild had a chance to find the equalizer on the power play but blanked on the opportunity.
Same with its next power play, although the team was getting looks with the man advantage. Bjugstad had the puck alone in front, but Miller fended off his backhander. Kevin Fiala also had a rebound roll out to him, but his stick snapped on the wind-up — a sequence emblematic of how the power play has gone for the Wild this season.
On its third try of the period, the Wild finally converted on a point shot from Suter at 16:21. The goal was Suter's first of the season, and it wrapped a goalless drought for the Wild at 127:40.
The Wild finished the game 1-for-3 on the power play and is 9-for-97 on the season. Anaheim went 0-for-3.
That goal seemed to ignite the Wild, as the team upped the intensity in the third period.
And at 3:42, the Wild moved ahead of the Ducks when Bjugstad buried the rebound off a Carson Soucy shot. Four of Bjugstad's five goals this season have come at Xcel Energy Center, and three of them have been game-winners.
Soucy's assist was his eighth of the season, establishing a career high for the defenseman.
Overall, the Wild is 11-3 at home this season after winning its ninth straight in St. Paul.
This run surpassed three eight-game streaks by the team (Nov.23-Dec.29, 2016; Dec.5, 2006-Jan.2, 2007; Oct.5-Nov.2, 2006).
The Wild will go for a 10th on Wednesday afternoon when it wraps up this two-game series against the Ducks.
