Wild defeat Islanders for 12th straight win

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Erik Haula scored with 10:30 remaining and the Minnesota Wild extended their winning streak to 12 games with a 6-4 victory against the New York Islanders at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.
Haula deflected a shot by Nino Niederreiter to break a tie after Brock Nelson scored twice for the Islanders earlier in the third to tie the game 4-4. Mikael Granlund scored an empty-net goal at 18:19.
"We broke the puck out nice and [I was] just trying to create some room for Nino, and I just felt it hit my feet," Haula said. "I just saw it go in. I guess when you're playing well, you get bounces like that sometimes."

Devan Dubnyk made 23 saves for Minnesota (23-8-4). He is 10-0-0 with 17 goals allowed in the past 10 games. It was the first time Dubnyk allowed more than three goals in 28 games.
WATCH: All Islanders vs. Wild highlights
The Wild scored three goals in 1:20 of the second period, a franchise record for fastest three goals. Chris Stewart made it 2-2 at 14:20, Jared Spurgeon gave Minnesota the lead 35 seconds later and Jordan Schroeder made it 4-2 at 15:40.
"Obviously down two goals to a team that's very good at protecting a lead and on a pretty good run isn't good," Islanders captain John Tavares said. "Big two goals by [Nelson]. We responded well. I thought we played a pretty decent second period other than that three- or four-minute stretch where we gave up those three goals. Pretty frustrating we gave up six. Not gonna win many games doing that."
Marco Scandella gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 12:34 of the first period. The Islanders (14-15-6) responded 1:31 later when Jason Chimera scored on a one-timer.

Nick Leddy gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with a slap shot from the point that slipped between Dubnyk's pads 6:15 into the second period.
Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves and was pulled after Schroeder's goal. J-F Berube made 10 saves in relief.
"It's a tough loss. It's too bad. Jaro wasn't sharp at all," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "Some soft goals to start, and then we had to battle our way back in. … I thought Berube went in there and gave us a chance. It's just tough the way it is, 2-on-2 and off two pads and in the back of the net. Just unlucky a little bit."
Minnesota hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. The Blue Jackets are on a 14-game winning streak (tied for the third-longest in NHL history). No teams have ever played against each other while each holding win streaks of more than 11 games.
"That's nuts," Stewart said. "I guess they're going to play it up like we're big rivals. But at the end of the day, they're Eastern Conference and we're Western Conference. Someone's got to win and we'll see what happens then."

Goal of the game

Stewart took a shot while nearly parallel with the net that went off Halak's arm and in. The goal was Stewart's seventh of the season and started the Wild's surge in the second period.

Save of the game

Dubnyk stopped Chimera on a breakaway at 4:34 of the second.

Unsung performance of the game

Wild defenseman Ryan Suter assisted on Stewart's and Spurgeon's goals. He has 21 points and leads the NHL with a plus-24 rating this season.

Highlight of the game

Niederrieter's shot bounced between Haula's legs and deflected into the net.

They said it

"They have a will to win. I mean, they like this. I'm sure Columbus is the same way. They like winning." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
"I think that's the frustrating part. If it didn't happen as often as it has, maybe you don't sulk as much but with where we're at, we need all the bounces to turn and kind of go in our favor to get out of this, so I think that's the hardest part." -- Islanders forward Brock Nelson

Need to know

Islanders forward Andrew Ladd had an assist to extend his point streak to three games. … Staal is on a nine-game point streak (five goals, seven assists) and Granlund has four goals and 12 points in the past 11 games.

What's next

Islanders: At the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Wild: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (6 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, FS-O, NHL.TV)