Welcome to your new home, Coach Boudreau

The Wild was booed off the ice Saturday night.

At the end of the first period.

Of the home opener.

Welcome to town, Bruce Boudreau.

Apparently, a stinker in the season opener and a horrific final minute of the first period of Game 2 had Wild fans a little on edge.

That nervousness makes sense when viewed through the prism of the team's underachieving, unfulfilling finishes the past few seasons. Fans remain a tad antsy, despite a coaching change.

Don't worry. Boudreau didn't hand out bouquets in the locker room during the first intermission of his first home game, either.

Maybe everyone can exhale and relax a little after the Wild dug out of a two-goal deficit to notch the first win of the Boudreau Era, 4-3 over the Winnipeg Jets at Xcel Energy Center.

If this one performance offers a glimpse of what's in store, the Wild looks capable of playing entertaining, fast-paced hockey under Boudreau.

"We all know that's how we're capable of playing," goalie Devan Dubnyk said. "It's important to get that feeling that we know we can dominate like that."

The Wild faithful began the night by serenading Boudreau with an inaugural BRUUUUUUUCE during pregame introductions.

Fans changed their tune and delivered a BOOOOOOOOO admonishment to Boudreau's team after the Wild self-destructed in the final 71 seconds of the first period to fall behind 2-0.

Boudreau's hiring flooded the entire organization with optimism, but the veteran coach needs time to learn his personnel, figure out what works and what doesn't, who can be trusted and who can't.

Boudreau worked the snot out of his players Friday in practice after they played lethargically in the season opener. It was the kind of practice that left no doubt about the head coach's mood.

That kind of effort won't cut it under this regime. In the best case, Boudreau's accountability will eliminate the annual swoons that plagued the Wild under Mike Yeo.

Yeo's biggest downfall as coach was the uneven and unpredictable nature of his teams. Every season felt the same. The Wild was either really good or really bad.

In the three previous seasons combined, the Wild had either a winning streak or losing streak that reached four games or longer 19 times.

The Wild must solve that issue in order to evolve into more than a playoff team that fails to advance past the second round.

"We're not concerned about what's happened in years past," Zach Parise said. "If you can avoid long streaks, that's ideal. But I know we're not stressing out right now thinking about, 'Here comes January again.' "

Even-keel is the best formula in managing the unforgiving Central Division, the NHL's best and toughest division.

Since divisions were realigned, the Central has placed five teams in the playoffs every season. The division is stocked with superstars and young, budding stars.

The Wild's strength is in its depth, its coaching staff and its experience. This is now a veteran team with a proven coach.

"The comfort level should be there for all of us now," captain Mikko Koivu said. "The core has been together for a long time. That needs to be a difference."

Boudreau's leadership remains the biggest difference. His aggressive system and demanding personality could provide the necessary spark to pull the organization out of its rut.

"As players we think we've got a good team," Parise said. "Of course, we've got to show it. We'd love to put ourselves in that category of being a consistent winner, legitimate contender. We know we've got a lot of work to do to get there."

The home opener was a nice start.