The New York Islanders suffered the ending to a seven-game points streak after a flat performance in Minnesota that may have reflected some road fatigue. The Islanders actually carried a 2-1 lead into the third period, though it wasn’t really deserved and they did very little to protect it. The Wild turned it around for a 3-2 lead in two-minute span, then added two empty-net goals for the 5-2 final.
Semyon Varlamov, making his first start since the conference finals after an injury kept him out for the first few weeks, was not given an easy workload in his season debut.