Minnesota fans haven’t seen too many losses this season. But in losing their third consecutive game, the Wild gave fans in St. Paul a sight of something seen all too often recently.

Dylan Guenther’s power-play goal midway through the third period was a nauseatingly familiar sight for Wild fans, as Minnesota’s penalty kill has been a notable weak spot in their game recently. The visitors held on for a 2-1 win in Utah’s first visit to Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild killed Utah’s first two power plays without allowing a shot. But with captain Jared Spurgeon in the penalty box, Utah won a faceoff and needed just four seconds of man advantage to rip a shot past Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for the eventual game-winner.

Mats Zuccarello, who now has four points in his four games since returning from injury, scored the only goal for the Wild, who have lost five of their last seven.

Guenther, who scored twice when these teams played 10 days ago, had both goals for Utah, which is now 6-0-1 in its last seven games.

Utah needed nearly half the first period to register its first shot on goal of the game, and fell behind early when Kirill Kaprizov and Zuccarello showed off their chemistry with a back-and-forth passing play that left goalie Karel Vejmelka all but powerless. It was Zuccarello’s first goal since returning from the lower-body injury that had sidelined him for a month.

But Utah pulled even just 58 seconds later, when Fleury stopped a shot by Jack McBain only to have the rebound glance off Guenther’s skate and into the net. Wild coach John Hynes had a conversation with officials about potentially challenging the play. But since there was no distinct kicking motion, the goal was unlikely to be overturned.

In the second period, after Kaprizov was robbed of a go-ahead score by a Utah defender who stopped the puck on the goal line, Utah appeared to take the lead when McBain shot a puck through traffic past Fleury. Minnesota challenged the play, and replays showed Kevin Stenlund had pushed Fleury out of position with his stick a half-second before the shot, which constituted goalie interference.

The Wild are now a perfect 4 for 4 in successful coach’s challenges this season.

Vejmelka had 28 saves for Utah, which fell to the Wild 5-4 in a shootout on Dec. 10 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City — the franchise’s new home after they relocated from Arizona last summer.

For Fleury, it was the first time he has started consecutive games this season as the Wild are still without regular goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who is battling a lower-body injury. Fleury had 16 saves, falling to 6-3-1 as a starter this season.

The third period was played with just one referee, as Jon McIsaac left the game early due to a rib injury. The Wild boarded a northbound plane after the game, flying to Winnipeg for a Saturday night game versus the Central Division-leading Jets.

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