ST. PAUL, Minn. _ With every point at a premium, what matters most is the result.
But if there was a gripe to be made about the Wild's overtime win over the Blackhawks on Tuesday, it was the fact the team blew a two-goal lead in the third period to set up the extra session.
In their next opportunity, at the start of a crucial back-to-back, the Wild got a chance at a do-over.
And this time, they held off the Canucks, 4-2, Thursday in front of 17,191 at Xcel Energy Center to wrap up a stretch of seven straight home games at 5-2.
The Wild will be back in action Friday in Dallas for a Central Division tilt with the Stars.
All but one of the Wild's goals came in a strong first period, but this victory was sealed in the third.
Overall, goalie Alex Stalock made 24 stops to record a career-high 13th win in a second straight start. He previously posted 12 in 2013-14 with San Jose.
After a thrilling finish to Tuesday's game that saw defenseman Matt Dumba shrug off a 33-game goalless skid in overtime, the Wild recaptured that energy right from the start.
Just 6 minutes, 1 second into the first, and only seconds after its power play expired, the Wild went up 1-0 on a shot through traffic by defenseman Brad Hunt.
Only 4:38 later, the Wild added on another on a Vancouver turnover.
Captain Mikko Koivu scooped up an errant behind-the-net pass by goalie Jacob Markstrom and sent it to the front of the net where winger Ryan Hartman backhanded it by Markstrom.
Before the period ended, the Wild scored their third on the power play at 16:20 _ a nifty shot by winger Kevin Fiala as he moved between a pair of Canucks defenders. The goal was Fiala's third in the last two games, and two of those have come with the man advantage. He and Hunt ended up with a goal and assist.
Vancouver made a much better push in the second.
Most of the Canucks' pressure came after a mid-period fight between winger Marcus Foligno and center Zach MacEwen, a heavyweight bout that left Foligno bloodied even though he landed a few solid punches.
Afterward, Vancouver went on the power play (defenseman Jared Spurgeon was called for slashing) and that's when the Canucks ruined Stalock's shutout bid on a glove-side shot by winger J.T. Miller as he darted through traffic at 10:33.
Foligno's fight with MacEwen wasn't the only tussle of the night; wingers Jason Zucker and Jake Virtanen fought early in the first period after Zucker crushed Virtanen with a hit.
With Zucker unavailable, winger Ryan Donato was promoted to the second line and he stayed there. He earned an assist on Fiala's goal and was on the ice for Hunt's.
The switch certainly seemed to work for the Wild, especially in the third; with a balanced look, the team was able to keep rolling all four lines and the group tamed the Canucks the rest of the way _ even adding another insurance goal from winger Zach Parise on the power play at 14:33.
With the goal, Parise's team-leading 20th, he tied Marian Gaborik for the most 20-goal seasons (five) in team history in his 999th career game.
The Wild's power play finished 2 for 4 and has 10 goals in the last eight games. Vancouver also went 2 for 4 after winger Antoine Roussel scored with 1:31 to go.
Markstrom totaled 33 saves.
