As excited as the Wild was by Tuesday's comeback from three goals down to beat the New York Islanders, all thoughts were with defenseman Keith Ballard after the game.

Ballard, trying to avoid a check from Islanders heavy hitter Matt Martin in the second period, was driven face-first into the boards at the Islanders bench.

Ballard was knocked unconscious and seen convulsing before eventually being helped to his feet and taken to a hospital for evaluation and observation.

"It was scary," said defenseman Nate Prosser, who tried to get at Martin after the hit. "It was just kind of tough to see him down like that. Just praying for him."

No penalty was called on the play.

"I saw [Martin] had a lot of speed going into that hit," Wild center Erik Haula said. "Keith's just trying to get the puck in deep. Their bench was yelling that he's dodging [the check], but I don't think it matters. If you come in with that much speed, he can't protect himself when he's probably on one leg trying to get the puck in. I just don't understand. I don't think that's necessary."

Thompson

Wild winger Thomas Vanek didn't see the hit because he was actually on the forecheck.

"Obviously I played for [the Islanders], and I don't think Martin's a dirty player, but from what I heard of it, to me, it's a dumb decision. Again, I didn't see it. I just heard about it. The puck's in the corner and you finish your hit.

"We're all playing this game because we love it, and we shouldn't hurt each other, but I'm sure it wasn't his intention. It was sickening, but we took the emotions the right way and deserved to win and we played hard for him."

The Wild will update Ballard's status Wednesday after it practices in San Jose. The Wild also could be without defenseman Marco Scandella when it opens up a three-game road trip.

Scandella was penalized late in Tuesday's game for an illegal check to Brock Nelson's head. On Nov. 29, Scandella was penalized for the same infraction against St. Louis' T.J. Oshie and subsequently fined by the NHL.

Suter back to normal

Defenseman Ryan Suter returned after two games with the mumps and had three assists.

"Nice to ease him into it. Twenty-nine minutes," coach Mike Yeo said sarcastically. "I thought that as the game wore on he was starting to find his game more and more. We knew it was going to be tough for him to get it going 100 percent right from the start. Every aspect of his game, he just kept getting stronger and showed you how important he is to us."

Captain Mikko Koivu won 22 of 30 faceoffs. He has topped 20 faceoff wins three times this season and two games in a row. He is the only Wild player ever to win 20-plus faceoffs in a game (six times).

Minnesota reunion

Eight Minnesotans — the Wild's Zach Parise, Ballard, Prosser and Ryan Carter and the Islanders' Kyle Okposo, Nick Leddy, Nelson and Anders Lee — took part in Tuesday's game.

"That says a lot about the development here," Parise said.

"I tell them I'm a transplant," said Cal Clutterbuck, the former Wild forward dealt to the Islanders in 2013 for Nino Niederreiter. Clutterbuck and Niederreiter each played their third games against their former teams.

"It's not as odd. I think most of the nostalgia is out of my system," Clutterbuck said.

Tuesday was Lee's first game at Minnesota. He had an assist. He played five state tournaments at Xcel Energy Center for St. Thomas Academy and Edina and an NCAA Frozen Four with Notre Dame.

He panicked Monday though when the NHL called a disciplinary phone hearing for an elbow he rendered Saturday against St. Louis. He was ultimately fined instead of suspended.

Lee said, "I've wanted to play an NHL game in front of my friends and family here since, well, forever."