TAMPA, Fla. — Now we’ve seen the Minnesota Wild play with the lead and a deficit.
After skating through their first 391 minutes, 31 seconds this season without trailing for a single second, the Wild faced their first deficit Thursday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a one-goal deficit with two quick goals in the second period.
So how did they respond?
Joel Eriksson Ek scored late in the second period, then drew a penalty that led to Matt Boldy’s power-play winner early in the third en route to a come-from-behind 4-2 victory at Amalie Arena.
The Wild, who have won four games in a row, improved to 5-0-2 to start the season and 4-0-1 on their seven-game road trip that continues in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon. The Wild have opened a season with a seven-game point streak for the first time since going 6-0-1 in 2008-09.
In his first start since Oct. 12, Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves for his 562nd career victory and the first of his 21st season.
Kirill Kaprizov scored his 27th career game-opening goal as Minnesota became the fourth team in the past 20 years to score the first goal of the game in their first seven games of a season. In fact, it tied the franchise record for most consecutive game-opening goals at any juncture of a season.
Kaprizov added an empty-net goal for a three-point game and matched his career-high of four straight multi-point games. He also became the second player in Wild history to post multiple points in four straight road games (Pierre-Marc Bouchard in 2012-13).
Marco Rossi also extended his career-long point streak to six games and extended his season-opening road point streak to five games to pass the player he idolized and first lived with in Minnesota, Thomas Vanek, for the longest run by an Austrian-born player.
Matt Boldy powerplay goal. What a pass by Zuccarello. 3-2 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/pL0v3okO6O
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 25, 2024
So much for rust … and old age
Fleury, because of Filip Gustavsson’s 4-0-1 start to his season, was making his first start in 12 days Thursday night. But the 39-year-old was sharp as a tack, especially in the first period when the Wild were outplayed.
But despite the Lightning’s 12-5 shot lead and 9-4 scoring chance lead, Fleury stopped all 12 shots to help the Wild get through the opening 20 minutes with a 1-0 lead.
He controlled his rebounds, stopped odd-man rushes and was challenged by shooters throughout the night. In the second and third periods, the Wild, who have been exceptional defensively this season, tightened up as Fleury only had to make 10 saves the rest of the way.
Assuming Gustavsson starts Saturday in Philadelphia, Fleury is slated to make his final career start where it all started Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. Fleury’s 562 wins rank second all-time while his 1,027 games are two short of Patrick Roy for third all-time.
Jonas Brodin is one of the best skating defensemen in the NHL and he showed that before the Wild’s first two goals.
In the first period, it was his hustle to the red line that helped trigger a three-on-one, then his center-lane drive that led to a Rossi to Kaprizov pass for Kaprizov’s first of two goals.
Are we shocked? No, it’s Kirill. pic.twitter.com/tMGvKuGXiL
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 24, 2024
In the second period, in advance of Eriksson Ek’s third goal of the season to tie the score with 98 seconds left, Brodin got the puck just in front of the blue line with a defender in his face. He spun away from former Wild prospect Mitchell Chaffee, left him in his dust and got the puck to the left wing boards for Marcus Johansson. Johansson fed Boldy, who then gave the puck to a pinching Zach Bogosian before he centered for Eriksson Ek’s third goal.
WONDERFUL job boys pic.twitter.com/s7TYnpDeah
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 25, 2024
Wild power play good and bad
With the exception of the third game of the season in Winnipeg, the Wild’s power play has been a bright spot this season.
It almost wasn’t Thursday.
In the first period, after a perplexing offside challenge by the Lightning on Kaprizov’s goal, the Wild didn’t make them pay on the ensuing power play for the incorrect challenge.
Then, in the second period, the Wild’s power play had two chances to first take a 2-0 lead, and then tie the score but was too sloppy with the puck.
The red-hot Hagel with the shorty! #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/MOo5NOtIty
— Lightning on FanDuel Sports Network (@FDSN_Lightning) October 25, 2024
But on Tampa Bay’s tying goal — a Brandon Hagel shorty, Kaprizov’s attempted pass to Brock Faber was interrupted by a stick-check. Boldy took a bad neutral zone pinch to allow Tampa Bay to enter the zone. He recovered with a good backcheck, but he could never get the puck off Anthony Cirelli’s stick before he fed Hagel after Mats Zuccarello lost his coverage.
That tied the score at 1-1 before a sloppy shift by the Wild’s top line led to a Nikita Kucherov goal for the Wild’s first deficit of the season.
But after Eriksson Ek drew the Wild’s fourth power play early in the third period, Boldy one-timed Zuccarello’s pass from the normal Kaprizov spot inside the right circle for his fourth goal and a 3-2 lead. He finished with a goal and an assist.
Captain Jared Spurgeon’s eventual return to the lineup seems on track.
After skating back in the Twin Cities, the Wild defenseman was scheduled to fly to Philadelphia on Thursday night to skate with the team on Friday. While it’s doubtful he’d play Saturday against the Flyers, he’d practice again Monday in Pittsburgh before a determination is made if he’ll return against the Penguins on Tuesday. He has not yet been given medical clearance to play.
GO DEEPER
Wild say captain Jared Spurgeon’s absence related to surgeries but ‘part of the healing process’
Regardless, this is positive that Spurgeon has progressed to rejoin the team. He missed his fifth consecutive game on Thursday.
Center Ryan Hartman missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury. He’s also sick and it’s believed Hartman will actually fly back to the Twin Cities on Friday since he’s not ready to return to the lineup. If that happens, Hartman’s injury will at least keep him out of Minnesota’s lineup for five consecutive games. It has been clear watching him that the injury is affecting his shooting.
The Wild are 4-0-1 without Spurgeon and 3-0 without Hartman.
(Photo: Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images)
