Islanders throttled by Wild, head into 4 Nations break on sour note

SAINT PAUL, Minn.— The Islanders are limping into the 4 Nations break in more ways than one.The high of a seven-game winning streak that vaulted them into playoff contention is over.Now it is about getting over the cutline and proving that a great two weeks wasn’t merely a mirage.While the Islanders weren’t thoroughly outplayed in any of the three losses they suffered in the four games heading into the break, this is a results business.

And blowing a two-goal second period lead to lose 6-3 to the Wild on Saturday does not inspire any notions that the Islanders are a legit contender masquerading as a playoff hopeful.It looked like the Islanders were on their way to gritting out a win on the second end of a back-to-back before everything went to pieces late in the second.Frederik Gaudreau cut a 3-1 lead to 3-2 with a power play goal from the top of the zone after the puck glanced off Tony DeAngelo and past Ilya Sorokin at the 13:21 mark of the period.Then Matt Boldy and Yakov Trenin scored near-identical goals separated by just 51 seconds, both of them deflecting point shots from Jonas Brodin and Jake Middleton, respectively.Suddenly, the Islanders were trailing 4-3 in a game they had largely controlled, and reeling going into the second intermission.And on a night where the Islanders did not have a full tank at the start of the game, having played 24 hours prior, there was no comeback in store.Tired legs looked at fault on the failed breakout that led to Boldy’s second goal of the night 5:53 into the third, when the Minnesota winger threw the puck at the crease only for DeAngelo to whack it into his own net.There was no push forthcoming, and Marcus Foligno’s empty-netter sealed up a result that looked a lot less close than the game felt for much of the night.On a night where they could have moved within two points of a playoff spot, the Isles instead dropped down the standings behind the Rangers, and remained four points back of the cutline.Just as concern...