Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishELMONT, N.Y. — Now you know why and how the collapsing New York Islanders were still the favorites at home Friday night.Despite the Islanders’ six-game winless streak, despite Patrick Roy unleashing on Anthony Duclair’s effort level after the previous game and the forward now suddenly away from the team, despite the Islanders having lost to the Wild six consecutive games since December 2019, the Wild still exited UBS Arena with a 3-1 loss to end an incredibly disappointing winless trip to the Devils, Rangers and Islanders.Remember all the talk the last two days that the Wild could still salvage the road trip and make it a “decent” one by gaining four of six points after shootout and overtime losses? It was all for naught after blowing a 1-0 second-period lead in mere minutes.Any hope of a third-period comeback was ended when Yakov Trenin took an early high-sticking penalty and Noah Dobson made Minnesota pay on the ensuing power play.The Wild, who are crumbling at the seams, fell to 1-4-2 in their past seven thanks to an 0-1-2 road trip. What’s more, the Calgary Flames are only five points behind with two games in hand. The Dallas Stars visit the Wild next on Sunday afternoon.The Wild have a head-to-head matchup with Calgary next week at the Saddledome.Mats Zuccarello scored the lone goal for the Wild, but the lead was short-lived.
Mats Zuccarello – Minnesota Wild (18) pic.twitter.com/MauQu0vBKc
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) April 5, 2025Jake Middleton boarded, hurtWith the Wild fighting to make the playoffs, they lost defenseman Jake Middleton at the 11:04 mark of the second period when he was going into the corner to play the puck and was pushed from behind at the bottom of the faceoff circle by Bo Horvat.Middleton was launched headfirst into the boards and immediately showed signs of being hurt. Horvat, normally an honest player, put his left hand on Middleton’s back in regret, then raised his arm in the air to motion for Wild athletic trainer John Worley.
Horvat, Middleton incident. pic.twitter.com/vNb4GhMlE4
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) April 5, 2025After several moments, Middleton was helped to his feet and skated with Worley’s help to the bench and down the tunnel for good with an upper-body injury. The Wild played the rest of the game with five defensemen.Referee Francois St Laurent called a minor penalty on the play. Coach John Hynes brought the referee over, wondering how the incident couldn’t warrant a major penalty, but it was to no avail. The Wild didn’t score on the power play.With five games left in the regular season, this would be a major loss now and beyond, with the Wild fighting for their playoff lives.Couple of bad minutes cost the WildThe most important shift after a goal is the next one, and the Wild’s soft shift after Zuccarello’s bank shot off Ilya Sorokin’s mask from behind the goal doomed them.It started in front of the net with the Wild defensemen not taking the body to bury players crashing the net, going after puck after puck. The Wild finally gained possession, worked it up the wall and Ryan Hartman’s low-speed attempt at an exit was picked off by Dobson and his shot was tipped by Filip Gustavsson by Casey Cizikas 36 seconds after Zuccarello’s goal.
What a tip by Cizikas #Isles pic.twitter.com/wIpFPTQkoe
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) April 5, 2025Two shifts after that, Marcus Johansson’s attempted wraparound wasn’t on target and the Islanders quickly transitioned. Simon Holmstrom skated down the right wing and his centering feed was put in perfectly by Wild center Freddy Gaudreau as he tried to intercept the centering feed intended for Alexander Romanov.
HOLMSTROM’S 18TH THIS SEASON.#LGI | @Ford pic.twitter.com/FAtHDFG5mh
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 5, 2025So in a span of 2:20, the Wild’s 1-0 lead became a 2-1 deficit.Hynes explains Chisholm’s scratchJon Merrill, scratched against the Rangers, was back in the lineup against the Islanders for Declan Chisholm. But Hynes said the decision to take Chisholm out of the lineup had nothing to do with his second-period turnover that led to Chris Kreider’s goal two nights earlier.“Chisholm is not coming out because he turned the puck over, to be very honest,” Hynes said. ” We made other mistakes in the game. (Justin) Brazeau made one in New Jersey. I think that when you’re looking at roles and pairs and different things like that, Chisholm has been a big reason why we are where we are. We’ve had massive injuries at D all year long. This kid’s come in and played great hockey for us.“I just think when you look at the roles, it seems at this point right now, he’s a good pairing defenseman when he plays with (Jared) Spurgeon. He plays different minutes. Jonny and (Zach Bogosian) are a very good pair. Right now, where we’re at in the season, it’s strictly role-based, pairing-based. If there happened to be an injury in the top four, then that’s Chizzy’s spot. He seems like he plays better when he plays more and plays with certain people. He clearly understands that. But I would make clear that it’s not because he made a mistake in the game.“You analyze it and you come back and say, ‘OK, what’s the best for our team? Who’s playing what roles?’ And that’s where it’s at. He knows that. I know that, and we’re gonna need him. He’s a big part of our team, but they’re all lineup decisions based on roles, responsibility and pairs.”Fast forward to Friday night’s game, and Middleton is now hurt, meaning Chisholm is next up out of the gate to return to the top six. However, the Wild would need to recall another defenseman from the minors and are expected to sign University of Denver defenseman Zeev Buium after the Frozen Four and in time for the regular season finale against Anaheim.(Photo: Steven Ryan / NHLI via Getty Images)
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