NEW YORK – The Wild had a chance at redemption, to prove that its late-game collapse at the start of this three-game road trip was a fluke.
Protecting a one-goal lead late in the third period, the Wild was penalized — a cookie-cutter re-enactment of what transpired Saturday in Boston ahead of the Bruins overcoming a two-goal deficit to win in overtime.
But instead of the Wild rebounding, of showing it learned from its previous mistakes, history repeated itself.
After giving up the tying goal on the power play, the Wild again faltered in overtime — this time 3-2 to the Rangers on Monday in front of 18,006 at Madison Square Garden.
And while the outcome extended the team's season-high point streak to six games (3-0-3), it also magnified the push to the finish line as the team's latest trouble spot.
"It's not inexperience, but you can't take a penalty every game in the last five minutes," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's just sort of sitting there and saying, 'Here, team. We're going to give you a great opportunity to score,' and they seem to do it."
Ahead 2-1 with 3 minutes, 8 seconds remaining, Ryan Hartman was penalized for tripping and New York capitalized on the ensuring power play.
Artemi Panarin, who assisted on all three Rangers goals, had his deflection carom off defenseman Ryan Suter and bounce off goalie Alex Stalock's pads before landing in front of Chris Kreider for the easy-tap in at 17:10. The goal improved the Rangers to 1-for-4 with the man advantage, while the Wild went 0-for-2.