Takeaways: Wild remain winless on road trip with 2-1 overtime loss to Flyers

PHILADELPHIA – Wild coach John Hynes figured it was probably better for his team to get back on the ice after a ghastly loss Friday night to the Capitals.

The effort he saw 24 hours later was more intentional than in that 5-1 mismatch, but the improvement didn’t translate into a win: After blowing a third-period lead, the Wild were downed 2-1 in overtime by the Flyers on Saturday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena, dropping their third game in a row to stand 2-3-1 on the season.

Stillwater’s Noah Cates capped off Philadelphia’s comeback with his first career OT winner.

Vladimir Tarasenko nabbed his first goal for the Wild, who earned their first point on this five-game road trip following regulation losses at Dallas and Washington. Jesper Wallstedt stopped 19 shots in his second start.

“We were much more competitive and I think engaged in the competitive areas of the game,” Hynes said. “So, I thought that was a step in the right direction.”

Cates, the former Minnesota Duluth captain, scored 2 minutes, 36 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime when he skated into the slot during a 3-on-2 break for the Flyers and wired the puck past Wallstedt — this after the Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek hit the post early in the extra session.

“Maybe I got a little deep,” said Wallstedt, who was making his second start and coming off a 4-3 shootout victory over the Kings on Monday. “Maybe I was a little late with coming with him as a lefty. But good hockey play from them.”

Tarasenko’s goal against Flyers goalie Dan Vladar (15 saves) couldn’t have been more as-advertised, the veteran winger crushing a one-timer pass by Marco Rossi.

“Nice setup by Marco,” Tarasenko said.

Philadelphia challenged to check if the Wild were offside, but the goal counted. The Wild were unsuccessful on the ensuing power play and finished 0-for-3; the Flyers went 0-for-2 but were better as the second progressed, and they didn’t disappear in the third period, either.

Philadelphia rallied 7:10 into the period after Owen Tippett collected his own rebound and banked it in off Wallstedt.

“Obviously, a little unfortunate on the goal,” Wallstedt said. “Just a matter of details.”

First, Eriksson Ek left after getting hit with a high stick in the face. Soon after, Marcus Foligno fought former Wild teammate Nicolas Deslauriers for a five-minute timeout in the penalty box.

“I asked him just to get myself going,” Foligno said.

Eriksson Ek returned before the period ended.

“They’re all fake,” Foligno said of Eriksson Ek’s teeth. “So, I don’t think he needed them. Maybe one was real. A lot of them are fake, so I think he just said, ‘Onto the next one.’ It’s not the prettiest mouth anyways.”

Still, the Flyers tested the Wild. Fortunately for them, Wallstedt was locked in, denying Philadelphia’s attempts in tight and off the rush. He also batted away a carom off the boards that flew toward the net.

Zach Bogosian is day-to-day because of a lower-body injury after blocking a shot Friday night at Washington, and the Wild called up David Jiricek from the minors to replace him.

The Wild also promoted former Centennial High School and Minnesota State Mankato forward Tyler Pitlick, with Pitlick switching roster spots with Liam Ohgren.

After Ohgren went pointless in the team’s first five games, the Wild felt it was important for the young winger to find his game, aka get reps with the puck to reestablish his north-south style.

“He agreed with it,” Hynes said, and Ohgren responded by scoring Saturday in his return to Iowa in the American Hockey League.

BOXSCORE: Philadelphia 2, Wild 1 (OT)

The Wild added only one 5-on-5 goal, bringing their season total to six, which is tied for the fewest in the NHL.

“I liked our game a lot more with the compete level,” Foligno said. “We probably could have had some more chances that could have went in. Might have been a different story.”

The season is still young, and the Wild aren’t close to being a finished product; that won’t happen until they’re healthy, which isn’t imminent.

What these early games are doing, though, are establishing habits, and that’s why it was important for the Wild to up their intensity after getting outmatched by Washington.

Still, this was a winnable contest, and the latest lesson for the Wild is playing with the precision it takes to close out victories.