Stuck in a monthlong malaise, sapped by illness, addled by mediocrity, the Wild on Tuesday night found anger to be the best inoculant.

Down three goals in the first period, the Wild was nothing more than a rejected Dr. Seuss poem: Had the mumps; couldn't get over the hump.

Then Islanders forward Matt Martin slammed Wild defenseman Keith Ballard into the boards in the second period, causing medical responders to rush onto the ice with a stretcher. The Wild then overcame deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to win 5-4 at Xcel Energy Center. Never before in franchise history had the Wild overcome a three-goal deficit to win in regulation.

"It was sickening,'' Wild forward Thomas Vanek said. "But we used the emotion in the right way.''

It is unsettling to think that professional athletes need to see a teammate in agony to rally, but anger is the most efficient performance enhancing entity known to man.

Suddenly an episode of the Skating Dead was interrupted by events that might not be believed if not for video evidence.

Mikael Granlund, small enough that Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has probably disparaged him in some tone-deaf way, body-checked thick forward Kyle Okposo, took a slash to the back of his legs, then turned and punched Okposo in the face. Granlund was out of his weight class and fully in the moment.

Kyle Brodziak, hardly an enforcer, went toe-to-toe with Martin. Mikko Koivu, hardly a sniper, picked a corner. And Vanek, so inept all season, overcame a first period in which he looked two steps too slow to stay on the first line by scoring the game-tying goal and assisting on Nino Niederreiter's winner.

"Nobody really said anything,'' Wild forward Erik Haula said. "But I think the thought in everyone's head was, 'Let's win it for Keith.' "

Ballard's injury, and the Wild's response to it, at least momentarily erased the story of the month: The team's ongoing battle with its very own mystery illness.

In a town where most sports teams believe they are cursed, the Wild has been merely contagious.

The mumps — what's next, cholera? — accomplished what no coach or opponent could, keeping Ryan Suter off the ice. He returned Tuesday to log 29 minutes and produce three assists, including helpers on the Wild's last two goals.

"Eased him back in,'' Wild coach Mike Yeo said with a smirk.

Suter's buddy Zach Parise, sounding a little congested, was informed Tuesday morning that a certain writer had not gotten his booster shot. "I wouldn't be in here if I were you,'' he said, smiling but not joking.

A few reporters who cover the Islanders didn't get close enough to Parise to hear his advice. Several lurked in the hallway as if Wild players were flesh-eating zombies.

The story of the day at the X was not so much that eight Minnesotans would play when the Wild faced the Islanders, but that none of them was bedridden.

"The Today Show" did a live shot from outside of the Xcel Energy Center and mentioned hockey players not as puck handlers but as disease carriers, maybe because the Wild had proved more effective at the latter than the former.

This is not what the Wild had hoped to be known for this year. If last season was the launching pad, this season was supposed to be the stratosphere.

Instead, 2014-15 has looked like most Wild seasons, a slog toward playoff contention hampered by uncertain goaltending.

Then Martin smashed recklessly into Ballard, leaving his teammates livid, and, finally, engaged. "When you see guys band together,'' Yeo said, "that's what we need.''

The mumps have altered the team dynamic. Parise says he won't even fist-bump anybody since the mumps broke out. "I'm trying to stay away from everybody, believe me,'' he said.

Tuesday night, fueled by anger, the Wild scored five goals, and five times its players wrapped their arms around each other. That's a terrible way to contain a disease, and suddenly none of them seemed to care.

Jim Souhan's podcast can be heard at souhanunfiltered.com. Jim Souhan can also be heard weekdays at noon and Sundays from 10 to noon on 1500 ESPN. @SouhanStrib • jsouhan@startribune.com