COLUMBUS, Ohio — After four days of basking in the afterglow of becoming the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal, Filip Gustavsson came down from cloud nine Saturday night and just decided to tend goal.
He didn’t miss a beat.
Gustavsson made 23 saves and came within 1:25 of a shutout, Marco Rossi scored for the second time in two games, Kirill Kaprizov scored a goal and an assist and Mats Zuccarello buried his team-leading third goal as the Minnesota Wild improved to 3-0-2 to start the season with a 3-1 win.
Two of those victories have come against former Wild coach Dean Evason’s Blue Jackets.
The Wild played for a third straight game without injured captain Jared Spurgeon and were without center Ryan Hartman, who is day to day with an upper-body injury.
In a weird portion of the schedule in which the Wild play five times in 16 days, the Wild flew to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after the game for two off days before facing the reigning Stanley Cup champions on Tuesday night in Sunrise.
Live. Laugh. Love. Marco Rossi. pic.twitter.com/7nGs1FW9Es
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 19, 2024
Wild have yet to trail this season
In 300 minutes of regulation hockey to start this season, the Wild have yet to trail for a single second.
According to NHL Stats, that’s the fourth-most minutes in NHL history. The 1969-70 Boston Bruins hold the NHL record for the longest streak to begin a season without trailing (457:21). The Montreal Canadiens went the first 324:47 of the 2015-16 season without trailing, and the 1990-91 Bruins went the first 301:41 of their season.
Evason has to be perplexed by this season. When he was fired by Minnesota in November, the Wild were 5-10-4 and were among the worst first-period teams in the NHL (outscored 27-15).
A lot has to do with Gustavsson, who has allowed six goals in four starts at the beginning of what he hopes will be a rebound season.
He has stopped 114 of 120 shots (.950 save percentage) this season. He improved to 3-0-1 with a 1.49 goals-against average.
Mats Zuccarello adds a third. 3-0 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/wl1fxqShgZ
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 20, 2024
Middleton solid on both ends of the rink
Jake Middleton, mustacheless after the team’s Halloween costume party Wednesday, had his best game of the season.
He dropped to the ice to ruin a two-on-one down low for the Blue Jackets moments before Yakov Trenin picked up his first point with the Wild by setting up Rossi’s goal. He also made a great play when Marat Khusnutdinov appeared to set up for a goal and a 2-0 lead in the second period. He let a shot rip, then sped in to find the rebound and tucked it home. But Evason challenged goalie interference and the NHL Situation Room agreed by ruling that Jakub Lauko “shoved” Jordan Harris onto his goaltender and thus impeded Daniil Tarasov’s ability to make the save.
Middleton was also a big part of the Wild’s 3-for-3 penalty kill, including a double minor when Trenin took a high-sticking penalty 64 seconds after Middleton’s overturned goal. On that kill, Gustavsson made seven saves.
Jake Middleton tucks home his own rebound and gives the Wild a 2-0 lead. Columbus challenging #mnwild pic.twitter.com/EutDTVsv47
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 20, 2024
Kirill wastes no time
On a night Tarasov was doing a tremendous job keeping the Wild at bay, he couldn’t handle a blistering one-timer from his fellow Novokuznetsk, Russia, native.
After a delay of game penalty on Harris and a tripping minor to Cole Sillinger, the Wild got a 94-second five-on-three. Coach John Hynes called timeout and five seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Kaprizov let go an absolute scorcher off Brock Faber’s pass for a 2-0 lead.
It was the type of goal Evason got quite comfy watching while behind Minnesota’s bench. Not so much behind the Blue Jackets’ bench.
It was Kaprizov’s second goal. He later assisted on Zuccarello’s goal for his team-leading eighth point.
Kirill Kaprizov one-timer from the dot. 2-0 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/843oiSXKa9
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 20, 2024
(Photo: Russell LaBounty / Imagn Images)
