NEW YORK — The Wild were a discombobulated disaster in a first-game meltdown against the Rangers back in October.
Almost half a season later and with their team at full strength for the first time, the Wild weren't much better in the rematch.
They coughed up a two-goal advantage and made sloppy mistakes for two periods before resetting to eke out a point in a 4-3 shootout rally by New York on Tuesday in front of 18,006 at Madison Square Garden that extended the Wild's losing streak to three games.
This rut is tied for the team's longest of the season; the last time they dropped three in a row was Nov. 13-17.
The Rangers' Kaapo Kakko and Artemi Panarin converted in the shootout after New York blanked on an overtime power play.
Before then, the Rangers' Filip Chytil delivered the equalizer in the period at 13:35 during a goal-mouth scramble.
Mats Zuccarello was the only Wild player to capitalize in the shootout; Kirill Kaprizov was stopped for the first time this season (4 for 5), and Frederick Gaudreau's attempt hit the outside of the net.
Marc-Andre Fleury, who was back after leaving the team recently for personal reasons, racked up 41 saves and had seven in overtime and a whopping 18 in the second period.
That's when the Rangers started their comeback by feasting on odd-man rushes and Wild turnovers, this after the Wild earned a 2-0 head start in the first period even though they weren't sharp then either.
They survived back-to-back penalties to start the game (New York's only two power plays in regulation), and Jon Merrill connected on a rising shot through traffic at 12:36. Then with 2:17 left, Kirill Kaprizov scored his team-leading 24th goal when he accepted a Sam Steel pass and flung it top-shelf on Igor Shesterkin. Ryan Reaves, in his first game vs. the Rangers since they traded him to the Wild on Nov. 23, also picked up an assist.
Kaprizov is only the second Wild player to post at least 24 goals in 40 games; Marian Gaborik is the other, recording 26 goals in 2006-07, 25 in 2007-08 and 24 in 2005-06.
The Wild winger is also two goals shy of 100 for his NHL career and one point away from hitting the 50-point plateau for a third consecutive season.
Still, the Wild lacked cohesiveness in their play, and that caught up with them in the second.
Only 2:37 into the period, Jimmy Vesey poked the puck away from Matt Boldy and Hopkins' K'Andre Miller won the ensuing puck battle to set up a breakaway vs. Fleury that he buried. That was Miller's 21st point, a career high for the defenseman.
Next up was Adam Fox, who scooped up a Mats Zuccarello turnover to skate in a for 2-on-1 rush that he wired by Fleury at 15:50 while action was at 4-on-4.
Overall, the Rangers outshot the Wild 20-10 in the second and looked to be in control heading into the third period with a chance to sweep the season series; New York spoiled the Wild's season-opener 7-3 on Oct. 13 at Xcel Energy Center.
But the Wild finally cleaned up their puck protection and established sustained offensive-zone pressure in the third period.
Another stretch pass from Steel found Zuccarello, who was back after missing two games with an upper-body injury, and although Shesterkin got a piece of the puck with his glove, the carom bounced behind him to drop into the net at 4:33 for Zuccarello's 17th goal. Shesterkin finished with 29 saves. Steel's pair of assists counted as his fifth multipoint game of the season. The Wild power play went 0 for 1.
