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Wild go for 2-0 start at Islanders

Oct 10, 2011 - 2:53 PM (Sports Network) - Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi impressed in their Wild debuts and the duo will try to get Minnesota off to a 2-0 start to the season when the club visits the New York Islanders for today's battle at Nassau Coliseum.

Heatley and Setoguchi made winning debuts for the Wild on Saturday, each scoring a goal to lead their new team to a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in what was the season and home opener for the Wild.

Heatley and Setoguchi were acquired from San Jose in separate trades during a busy offseason for the Wild, who also won their first game under new head coach Mike Yeo.

Matt Cullen and Marco Scandella scored the other Minnesota goals and Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves.

Heatley and Setoguchi are playing on a line with center Mikko Koivu, who had an assist on Setoguchi's goal in the second period. Heatley also assisted on the tally, giving their line four points for the game.

"He's a two-way centerman. He's not one-dimensional," Setoguchi said of Koivu. "The one thing he does the best I think is he's puck-hungry. If there's a loose puck he's trying to get it to you. And when he's doing it, everyone's doing it."

Minnesota will not have forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard for the next two games, as he was suspended for a high-stick to the face of Columbus' Matt Calvert. He was given a double minor for the infraction and will be eligible to return for Thursday's home game against Edmonton.

The Wild are beginning a brief two-game trip today and will also visit Ottawa on Tuesday.

The Islanders will try for their first victory of the year this afternoon after getting dealt a shutout loss by visiting Florida in the season opener on Saturday. Jose Theodore stopped all 27 shots he faced in his first game as a Panther, leading Florida to a 2-0 victory at the Coliseum.

Al Montoya made 27 saves for the Islanders, who went 30-39-13 last season and finished 14th in the East -- just above the Panthers in the conference standings.

"This was a perfect opportunity more than anything for our fans," said Islanders head coach Jack Capuano. "It's a little disappointing to me that, for whatever reason, we didn't get out of the gate and to compound that with the penalties we took to give them opportunities."

The Islanders are playing their first four games of the season on home ice. They will also host Tampa Bay and the rival New York Rangers during the homestand.

Minnesota has won eight of the 12 all-time meetings with the Islanders, but the Wild have dropped three of their last five on Long Island.