(My Sportsbook) - If the Minnesota Wild want to jump into the upper echelon of the Western Conference, one thing they have to do is take advantage of lesser opponents in their own building.

Sure, it was the high-priced, superstar-laden New York Rangers who paid a visit, but the Blueshirts have barely been able to get out of their own way all season.

However, on Wednesday the Blueshirts came into Xcel Energy Center and skated away with a 4-2 win, as the Wild suffered their third straight loss.

"This one was tough to swallow," said Sergei Zholtok. "We had lots of chances. The bounces just didn't go our way."

The loss, combined with a win from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, dropped the Wild to seventh-place in the Western Conference standings with 67 points, one back of the Ducks and just two in front of eighth-place Edmonton.

Zholtok scored and Andrew Brunette had a goal and an assist for Minnesota, which just missed tying the game with five minutes remaining when Marian Gaborik's attempt rang off the crossbar.

"It's too bad because I thought we deserved a little more than we got," head coach Jacques Lemaire said.

The turning point of the game came midway through the second stanza when 42- year-old legend Mark Messier picked up the loose puck at the Wild blueline and skated in all alone on Dwayne Roloson, deked him to the ice with a nice backhand fake and gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead.

"I haven't seen this in my whole career. The puck just went straight to him. There he was, all alone. What can you do?" Lemaire said. "The guys were upset. But things like that happen."

Zholtok drew Minny within a goal three minutes after Messier's tally and the Wild outshot the Rangers 12-2 in the final 20 minutes, but Bobby Holik put the game out of reach with his 11th goal of the season with 3:05 left in the game.

Roloson, who returned after a two-game absence because of an ankle injury, made 15 saves in a losing effort.

WHAT'S AHEAD

The Wild will try and get back on track on Sunday when the St. Louis Blues visit St. Paul. The team will then leave for a three-game road trip that includes stops in Ottawa, Montreal and St. Louis.