The Wild went into the break with momentum, defeating Carolina 2-1 on Thursday and securing a comeback 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Here are five rules recapping the Wild’s back-to-back home wins before the break:

1. The Wild have won two consecutive games – in regulation – at home for the first time this season.

The Wild came into Saturday’s game with a 12-12-1 record at home. This season has brought some rough outings in the building, including a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 5, a 7-1 loss to Edmonton on Dec. 12 and a 6-1 loss to Florida on Dec. 18.

Minnesota came home reeling after a 6-0 drubbing in Ottawa followed by a 3-0 loss to the Bruins, so it was no doubt looking for some momentum before the break.

So, what changed over the last couple of games to get a couple of home victories?

“Pucks went in,” Wild captain Jared Spurgeon quipped. “No, I feel like, we’ve had games where we played well here. And it just hasn’t gone our way.”

Boldy said it was just the Wild getting to their game.

“The home record is what it is, I think we know that,” said forward Matt Boldy. “And to be able to turn it around and get those two wins versus two good teams that are playing really good hockey right now is huge for us. And we wanted to go into break on a high note.”

2. Yakov Trenin scores in back-to-back games.

It’s no secret that injuries and jumbled lineups have been a significant running storyline for the Wild this season, and that’s been especially true with superstar Kirill Kaprizov out for multiple weeks following surgery for a lower-body injury. The Wild need to make up that scoring from somewhere, so it’s always a welcomed sight when bottom-six forwards contribute.

Yakov Trenin gave the Wild a 1-0 lead against Carolina less than three minutes into the game, with the puck coming to him out front on a pretty feed from Marat Khusnutdinov. That goal was a sigh of relief for the Wild, after those back-to-back shutout losses.

“It was a very big goal,” Trenin said. “Especially, few games before, we couldn’t get the lead.”

Against the Islanders, he scored again, finding himself in a good spot for a deflection in front of the crease. It turned out to be the game-winner. His fifth and sixth goals of the season gave him a chance to bring out his celly vibes. He threw himself into the end glass after Thursday’s goal, while Saturday’s tally got him to raise both arms in the air in triumph.

3. Vinnie Hinostroza scores a game-winning goal in his Wild debut against Carolina.

Last week, Ryan Hartman was handed a 10-game suspension. The Wild have consistently played shorthanded this season, but they claimed Vinnie Hinostroza off waivers from the Nashville Predators last week. With 388 career NHL games across 10 seasons with six other teams, Hinostroza made his Wild debut against Carolina.

He also became the 31st player to score a goal in his Wild debut. Against a good Carolina team, the Wild were clinging to a 1-0 lead through two periods. But 49 seconds into the third period, Hinostroza doubled the team’s lead, getting credit for a gritty, greasy goal around the crease.

The puck bounced around off goaltender Frederik Andersen’s back and eventually across the goal line as Hinostroza and Marcus Foligno crashed the net. The play was reviewed but the goal stood.

“I kind of felt like it was because I was right there after I tipped it,” Hinostoza said. “But I saw Moose celly, so I don’t know if he got under the goalie there and stuff. Once I saw the replay, I kind of knew.

“It felt like we had a really good game as a line. We had a lot of opportunities, so that was a lot of fun.”

Hinostroza was on the right wing with Foligno and Gaudreau on the third line. With the final 2-1 score, he also became the eighth Wild player to score a game-winning goal in their Wild debut.

Wild coach John Hynes said Hinostroza played well.

“Good speed, he’s tenacious on the puck, his abilities to make some plays and, you know, plays the game smart,” Hynes said. “He did a nice job.”

4. Matt Boldy helped spark a second-period turnaround with 3 Wild goals in a 5:29 span against New York.

The Wild grabbed a 1-0 lead against the Islanders early in the first period on Marco Rossi’s 19th tally of the season, with a primary and pretty assist from Boldy. But the lead didn’t last long. It was 13 seconds before Palmieri tied the game. The game was knotted at 1-1 at the first intermission, but the Islanders came out flying in the second while the Wild looked like it was already looking ahead to the break.

“For us, we knew that that wasn’t good enough, and that that wasn’t going to win us the game,” Boldy said.

It became the Minnesota show, in a way, as Warroad’s Brock Nelson scored 28 seconds into the second period to give the Islanders the lead. Edina product Anders Lee made it a two-goal margin about seven minutes later.

But in the second half of the period, the Wild picked it up. They also benefitted from a tough-luck night for Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo.

First, Gaudreau made it 3-2 with 6:39 left in the period with a power-play goal. The shot deflected off of DeAngelo. Then just after the last TV timeout of the period with 2:01 on the clock, the Wild tied the game 3-3 on a goal credited to Boldy after he tipped in a Jonas Brodin blast from long range.

Trenin’s go-ahead goal came 51 seconds later.

“We stood mentally strong,” Trenin said. “We didn’t get down after that third goal. And the power play came up huge, scored a big goal and kept us in the game, give us some momentum.”

The Wild are 22-0-0 this season when leading after the second period.

5. Filip Gustavsson needed a breather.

Goaltender Filip Gustavsson was so spent after the 2-1 victory over Carolina that he was hunched over in his crease as the line of teammates congratulated him for the effort after the win. No, he wasn’t hurt.

“You just try and breathe as much as you can and move and get something to your brain so you can keep focused,” Gustavsson said. “Usually we’re very happy and then talk to each other when they come down. I just had to catch my breath two seconds first there.”

Gustavsson made 38 saves and nearly had a shutout before Carolina’s Sebastian Aho scored late in the game. Gustavsson also kept them off the board in the second period when Jackson Blake had an unsuccessful penalty shot attempt. Gustavsson is 4-1-0 with a 1.40 goals-against average and .954 save percentage in five career starts versus Carolina.

He followed up that performance with 31 saves against the Islanders to take back-to-back wins into the 4 Nations tournament.

For the season, Gustavsson is 22-11-3 with a 2.63 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and three shutouts.

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St. Paul – The on-again, off-again Wild have been nothing but “on” at the Xcel Energy Center this season.

While the team’s ride on the road has too often been sabotaged by potholes, Minnesota is simply ridiculously good on home ice.

After scoring a franchise-record four goals in less than 3 1/2 minutes of the second period Tuesday night, the Wild sauntered to a 6-2 victory over Carolina and a remarkable 24-5-6 home record this season.

They have points in 26 of their past 28 home games.

Stunning.

They are zeroing in on the team’s best win total at home: 29 games in 2006-07.

The 2017-18 season just might go down as the craziest of seasons: Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle have missed numerous games because of injuries and neither has 10 goals, Minnesota natives Nate Prosser and Nick Seeler have somewhat surprisingly become regulars on the blue line, and Eric Staal has vaulted himself among NHL leaders in goals.

According to coach Bruce Boudreau, Staal’s production is way beyond anything expected when the Wild signed him to a free-agent deal two summers ago.

“Everything he touches — we should start calling him Midas — everything he touches turns to gold,” Boudreau said.

Staal, who notched his 35th and 36th goals against the Hurricanes, scored just 13 goals during the 2015-16 season, you might remember, before bouncing back with 28 for the Wild last season.

The 33-year-old, who sccored 45 goals for Carolina in 2005-06 when he was age 21, is on pace to challenge that this year. The 36 goals lifted him into a tie for fourth in NHL goals behind Alex Ovechkin, Patrik Laine and Evgeni Malkin.

“I’ve got a lot of work if I want to catch or be around those guys,” Staal said with a chuckle. “I don’t like my chances with those guys, to be honest.”

But the way this season has gone, who can predict anything?

Prosser, who is from Elk River, is another out-of-nowhere story this year; he was reclaimed on waivers from St. Louis for the second time in his career on Nov. 30, when Minnesota had an 11-10-3 record, and in the 42 games he has played since then the Wild are 27-11-4.

He has two goals, six assists and ranks seventh in plus-minus on Minnesota’s roster with plus-8.

Then there’s Seeler, a native of Eden Prairie who sat out Tuesday after a heavyweight bout with Detroit’s Luke Witkowski in a 4-1 home victory Sunday. Seeler, 24, was called up for his NHL debut Feb. 13 and played 11 consecutive games before he was hurt in his fight, meshing so well as an untried rookie that the Wild decided they could trade defenseman Mike Reilly to the Montreal Canadiens.

These exceptional turnarounds and surprises have lifted the Wild into third place in the Central Division and make the team an almost sure bet to reach the playoffs.

On the other hand, however, there’s that pesky issue surrounding the team’s bumpy ride on the road. As they head out on a quick two-game jaunt to Vancouver and Edmonton, the Wild take with them a 14-17-1 road mark.

Boudreau is growing weary of the recurring questions.

“If I knew, I would figure it out and change,” he said. “Why we can play very good defensively at home and then allow all those goals on the road is beyond me. We talk about it every day. Hopefully, we’ll correct it.”

Parise, who scored a power-play goal against Carolina to give him six goals in 28 games, says there is no easy answer to the home-and-away variences.

“We’re searching for that answer, too,” he said. “The only thing we know is we have to be a good road team down the stretch and then — knock on wood — into the postseason.”

Despite an unpredictable season through 67 games, the message after another home win seems to point to a measure of optimism heading into the rest of the regular season. After all, six of those remaining games are on home ice.

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Wild honor Eric Staal for eclipsing 1,000 game mark 

SAINT PAUL — When Eric Staal stepped onto the ice for his first NHL game with the Carolina Hurricanes, California voters were just two days removed from electing their second actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to the Governor’s office and it would be another five days before the Chicago Cubs and Cubs’ Nation met Steve Bartman.

More than 13 years later, the four-time Terminator replaced a TV host who left to become President of the United States and the once-cursed Cubs are world champions.

It’s a crazy, mixed-up world, except for Staal, who has since eclipsed 1,000 games in a distinguished 13-season career.

Staal’s wife, three sons, and parents were in attendance at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night to see him honored for becoming the 311th player in NHL history to hit the 1,000-game mark, and the fifth to do so in a Wild sweater.

“Those are moments and memories that you never forget,” Staal said. “Sometimes it can be awkward because there’s so much focus in you individually when this is such a great team game and team sport but it’s a special milestone and it’s something that I’m proud of.

“To have my family and parents and people that mean the most to me to enjoy it with it makes it even better.”

The ceremony took place prior to his current team, the Minnesota Wild, squaring off against the Hurricanes, the team for whom he skated his first 909 games.

Staal received the customary silver stick, emblematic of his 1000th career NHL game, from Wild GM Chuck Flecher and Minnesota owner Craig Leipold presented Staal with a $5000.00 check made out to the Staal Family Foundation.

Appropriately, Staal set up linemate Zach Parise’s 19th goal of the season less than six minutes into the game seconds after nearly scoring the game’s first goal himself. He later added a second assist on Nino Niederreiter’s third-period tally. 

The trio of Staal, Parise and Niederreiter combined for eight points in Minnesota’s 5-3 win to clinch home ice in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs where the Wild will likely host Mike Yeo and the St. Louis Blues.

“We were dialed in,” Staal said. “We were on the puck really well … Would’ve loved that first one I almost had. Too many thoughts going through my head as I fired it but we were able to obviously cash in right after with Zach’s, which was nice.”

Although Staal played his milestone game in Winnipeg on March 19, two days after the Wild visited Carolina, the team chose to hold off on recognizing the accomplishment until his brother, Jordan, and his former Hurricanes teammates could be on hand.

“When they approached me to say that’s what they were thinking of doing, I had never really thought about it,” Staal said after the Wild’s Tuesday morning skate. “I thought it was pretty classy. Obviously, I spent a lot of time there, a majority of games have been there. They do the stick pass thing, so to be able to do that with them here, and obviously Jordan here, it’ll be pretty special.”

On behalf of the Hurricanes, Jordan presented Staal with commemorative painting featuring his likeness in three different poses and jerseys, one of them featuring Staal lifting the Stanley Cup above his head.

Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said Tuesday morning he’s really happy for Staal and the way the schedule worked out.

“For him today, especially to get honored when Carolina’s in town, that’s a pretty neat thing considering that’s where the bulk of his career was and that’s where his brother plays,” Boudreau said.

Selected in the first round (No. 2 overall) by Carolina behind Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Staal, who is the first of that future-star studded draft class to reach 1,000 games, made his NHL debut on Oct. 9, 2003 against the Panthers in Florida.

“You dream of playing in the NHL,” Staal said. “You watch it growing up and the first time you throw on the jersey and step on the ice it’s kind of that realization that all that hard work that you did it’s come to life.”

Five games and two weeks later Staal’s first NHL goal and point on a 2-on-1 with Jeff O’Neill turned out to be the game winner in a 2-0 Carolina win at Boston. He would go on to score 10 more goals in his rookie campaign to go with 20 assists.

Staal vividly remembers that goal.

“[O’Neill] was carrying the puck over the blue line, made a great fake on the goalie and ripped a pass over to me,” Staal said. “I had nothing but time and net, which was perfect, and that’s what you want with your first one and I was able to put it to the back of the net.”

Staal’s sophomore season was delayed an entire year due to the NHL’s lost 2004-05 lockout season but the wait turned out to be well worth it for the Hurricanes and their fans.

He posted what remain career highs in goals (45) assists (55) and points (100) in 2005-06 and tacked on 28 points (9 goals, 19 assists) in 25 postseason games in leading the Hartford/Carolina franchise to its first Stanley Cup championship.

The four-time NHL All-Star and 2008 All-Star Game MVP was named the franchise’s 13th captain and fifth since it moved to Carolina on Jan. 20, 2010, replacing Rod Brind’Amour who assumed Staal’s assistant captain role for the remainder of his final NHL season.

“It was different the way it went and, for me, a little uncomfortable just because of how much respect I had for Rod and winning a Stanley Cup with him as a captain and him still being there,” said Staal who initially declined the offer. “But he called me and Rod had a great conversation with me  and he was extremely gracious … I learned a lot from him as a person on the ice and off the ice.”

Staal’s production dipped late in his Carolina career, coinciding with the team’s struggles overall. With just 33 points in 63 games for the Hurricanes last season, Staal was dealt to the New York Rangers at the trade deadline where his impact was minimal as the Rangers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Pittsburgh.

For the first time in 12 seasons, Staal became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and signed a team-friendly three-year, $10.5 million contract with Minnesota the same day. After a summer devoted to preparing himself for a return to form, Staal made an immediate impact on his new team both on and off the ice.

Staal leads the Wild in goals with 27 and his 63 points are second only to Mikael Granlund’s 68. The 32-year-old Staal also leads the club in game-winning goals (7) and shots (205) and sits third in assists with 36.

“He’s a pro in every sense of the word,” Boudreau said. “He’s everything that I was hoping that he’d be and more.”

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St. Paul – The Wild’s playoff hopes could have grown very dim Saturday.

Coming off road losses to Ottawa and New Jersey, Minnesota entered a matinee game against the Carolina Hurricanes needing a jolt of positivity.

Then Carolina tied the score 2-2 with 6:51 remaining in the third period to force overtime, and Hurricanes forward Elias Lindholm sprung himself free with a spin-o-rama move in the final seconds of overtime.

Devan Dubnyk made the save on Lindholm, however, and after shootout goals by Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise plus two shootout saves by Dubnyk, the Wild escaped the sold-out Xcel Energy Center with a 3-2 victory in front of 19,044.

The 100th consecutive sell-out crowd for a Wild home game erupted in cheers at the conclusion, expelling an afternoon’s worth of held breaths from a dramatic 65-plus minutes of play.

Nothing was more dramatic than Lindholm’s late move.

“That’s overtime,” Wild interim coach John Torchetti said. “You can’t script it. Dubs, he kept his composure and held his post.”

Dubnyk said he was aware the clock was ticking down and simply tried to shut out everything but the play in front of him.

“You just try to keep in focus and bear down as much as you can,” he said.

The two points inched Minnesota within a point of Colorado for eighth place in the Western Conference after 72 games.

“Getting one point’s not good enough for us.” Dubnyk said. “So, a lot of emotions there.”

Minnesota got goals from David Jones and Jason Zucker to twice take one-goal leads in this one, but both times Carolina came back to tie.

It was that kind of a tight game.

“Every play’s a big play,” Torchetti said. “Everyone knows it. It’s good for our team to play those types of games.”

Torchetti benched forward Thomas Vanek for this game, then was forced to play without injured forward Ryan Carter through much of the late going. Jones stepped up, and Zucker scored his first goal since Feb. 17.

“It’s always nice to get a goal,” Zucker said, “but more than that, it was nice to help the team get a win tonight. It was two very needed points.”

After four losses in their previous five games, the Wild desperately needed success on Saturday.

“We stuck with it,” Coyle said. “In our previous games we would have been frustrated in our game when things weren’t working, but we stayed within our structure. That’s what’s going to get us scoring chances and goals.”

Torchetti called it a game of “good team structure” that went well because his team was often on the winning side of puck battles. That allows Torchetti to relax a bit and not worry about peripheral matters.

“I feel good,” he said. “I feel confident. Tonight’s a playoff-type game – tight checking, making the right play at the right time, making good changes, being smart.”

And getting two points that very likely might prove significant at season’s end.

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Classic WCHA alums blow away Hurricanes

SAINT PAUL – Early on in the Wild’s 6-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night, a hat trick appeared inevitable.

Instead, the lone mention of hats might have been a reference to the Gophers’ “Minnesota, hats off to thee.”

Former University of Minnesota star Thomas Vanek scored two goals in the first 8:17 to spark a Wild offense that got goals from ex-Gophers Jordan Schroeder and Erik Haula as well as Elk River native Nate Prosser and Bloomington native Zach Parise.

With the Gophers men posting a 2-0 win over Michigan at Mariucci Arena, it was a good evening for Minnesota hockey fans.

“They need to win; we need to win, so it’s a good day for all of us,” Vanek said.

The Wild’s six goals, coming on just 24 shots including one into an empty net, were backed by another strong effort from Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk.

Dubnyk raised his record with Minnesota to 10-1-1 and the Wild, much to the delight of 19,220 at the Xcel Energy Center, raised their record in their past 10 games to 8-0-2 to tie the franchise mark for longest points streak.

With points in 12 of their past 13 games, the Wild have climbed to a 28-20-7 record for 63 points with 27 games remaining. The 63 points temporarily tied Minnesota for eighth place in the Western Conference, just three points behind sixth-place San Jose, although Calgary and Vancouver played late.

The timing of this streak has been terrific: The Wild now head on the road for games at Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

“At this time of year, it’s all about getting points, and we’re getting them,” Vanek said.

Vanek got the Wild started in the first period, with a bunch of help from Justin Fontaine.

Fontaine’s forecheck created a loose puck, and Mikael Granlund found the puck and an open Vanek to make it 1-0 just 1:15 after puck drop.

Seven minutes later, Fontaine slid a perfect pass to an open Vanek to make it 2-0, and after Schroeder banged a shot past former Wild goalie Anton Khudobin at the 15:31 mark, it appeared Minnesota was in control.

But the Hurricanes outshot the Wild 13-4 in the second period to push back.

“We got the win, that’s the bottom line,” Schroeder said. “And that’s 10 consecutive games with a point, so that’s pretty cool, too.”

Carolina cut deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to 4-3 in the second period before goals by Haula and Parise made things more comfortable.

“Unflappable,” was the word chosen by Wild coach Mike Yeo to describe his team, noting that a strange embellishment penalty called against Mikko Koivu seemed to give the Hurricanes life.

But, as Yeo said, the Wild did not wilt.

“I think we’re just kind of building our game,” Prosser said. “Each and every game we’re building our confidence, and everyone’s feeling good about their games. We’re doing all the little things right: Making sure we’re paying the price, blocking shots, taking hits to make plays. I think everyone can feel that positivity on the bench.”

Yeo tipped his hat to the play of Fontaine and Schroeder, who have moved up because of injuries to Jason Zucker and Ryan Carter, commenting that both did things “the right way.”

Fontaine picked up two assists and Schroeder one, while Granlund and Jared Spurgeon each added two assists and Vanek one.

Yeo was obviously relieved to add another win to his team’s record – the Wild will likely need to pick up 31 or 32 points over their final 26 games to make the playoffs – but Yeo was in no mood to celebrate.

“One win doesn’t mean we’re there,” he said, “and one loss doesn’t mean we’re not there. This is all just part of the process right now. We’re finally back in it. We’ve gotten ourselves closer, and there’s still an awful lot of hockey left this year.”

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