Minnesota Wild arrive at a desperate time with loss to New York Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. – In the last week and a half, the Wild have played the contenders, the pretenders and the hopefuls in between — and they’ve struggled against all of them.

That’s made their remaining schedule a crapshoot, with their latest loss the biggest head-scratcher.

The Wild were downed 3-1 by the sputtering Islanders, who had dropped six in a row before their victory Friday night at UBS Arena that wrapped a winless road trip for the Wild.

“Guys should be disappointed in the urgency, the competitiveness, the execution, the energy to play in a game like this,” coach John Hynes said.

What’s concerning is the effect on the Wild’s playoff chances.

Having won only once in their past seven games — against the toughest team during that stretch in the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals, and are on a four-game skid — this slide has made the race behind them more intriguing than the one in front of them. The Flames are just five points behind the Wild with two games in hand for the second and final wild-card berth in the Western Conference.

“That’s why it’s frustrating that we can’t put together a little better game than we did today as a team,” Mats Zuccarello said. “It’s hard to get to the playoffs. Unfortunately, few games left, and you’ve got to have that urgency.”

Ahead of the Wild are the Blues with a two-point edge for the first wild card.

“There should be no feeling sorry for ourselves,” Hynes said. “There should be this is the best time of the year, and we’re in a position. We gotta be way better than we were tonight.”

To make matters worse for the Wild, they finished the game without Jake Middleton after the defenseman was hit from behind by Bo Horvat and went crashing hands and headfirst into the boards.

Middleton’s exit came after New York’s Casey Cizikas and Simon Holmstrom spearheaded the Islanders’ rally in 1 minute, 44 seconds of the second period, with goaltender Ilya Sorokin racking up 27 saves — the only puck eluding him a bank shot off his mask by Zuccarello.

After neither team capitalized in the first period, although New York had plenty of chances to, the Wild broke the stalemate when Zuccarello corralled a carom off the end boards and threw the puck off Sorokin and into the net 1:42 into the second. Marcus Johansson’s assist was his fourth point in his past two games.

But the Islanders didn’t let that Wild lead linger long: On the very next shift, Cizikas tipped a Noah Dobson point shot by Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson. Then at 4:02, Holmstrom drove to the net and flicked forward a backhander that deflected in off Frederick Gaudreau’s skate.

“Everyone’s kind of looking for that next step in their game,” Brock Faber said, “and some nights you have it. Some nights you don’t, and there’s bounces. It’s just frustrating, especially when you get in a spot like this, to try and climb your way out of it.”

Later in the second, Horvat was penalized only two minutes for boarding Middleton and not given a five-minute major. Middleton was helped off the ice after the collision with the boards.

“You just hope he’s OK,” Faber said. “Hope it’s not too bad.”

Hynes didn’t have an update on Middleton after the game, and a heated President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin instructed Hynes not to discuss the penalty.

The Wild didn’t convert during the ensuing power play, going 0-for-2, and their penalty kill surrendered an insurance goal to New York early in the third period. Dobson wound up again, and this time he connected at 3:36; before then, the Wild PK denied an Islanders power play and all six opportunities previously on the trip during losses to the Devils (3-2 in a shootout) and Rangers (5-4 in overtime). The PK had one more kill vs. the Islanders to end 2-for-3.

“I’m so sick of standing here and telling you guys this and that,” Zuccarello said. “I’m sorry. Just not good enough.”

Gustavsson had 24 stops in his fifth consecutive start, the Wild keeping the lineup the same except to sub Jon Merrill in on defense for Declan Chisholm.

Hynes made it clear the change wasn’t because of the turnover Chisholm made against the Rangers that led to a goal against.

BOXSCORE: Islanders 3, Wild 1

NHL standings

The Wild have only five games left in the regular season, beginning with a Sunday matinee at home vs. the Stars.

“It’s hard when you work a whole year and sacrifice your body and everything you can to win and just can’t find one,” Faber said. “But that’s just the time of year it is. It’s on to the next one.

“We got to refocus for Dallas on Sunday and piece together some wins.”