Wild keep their low moment short, roar to victory vs. Flyers

Sarah McLellan, Star Tribune on Dec 14, 2024

Published in Hockey

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Wild avoided another losing streak.

After getting rolled by the Oilers for their worst loss of the season, the Wild recalibrated for a 4-1 victory against the Flyers on Saturday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center with two key players back in action.

Kirill Kaprizov scored twice to get to a team-high 20 goals, Matt Boldy buried a breakaway for his 200th career point, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves to christen the return of Mats Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin from lengthy injury absences with a quintessential bounce-back victory.

But the Wild, who are 6-0 after regulation losses, still played shorthanded for a second straight game.

Jakub Lauko left with a lower-body injury after Jake Middleton was hurt Thursday in the 7-1 romp by Edmonton, the defenseman suffering an upper-body injury that’ll sideline him for the foreseeable future. The Wild replenished their defense by claiming Travis Dermott off waivers from the Oilers and although Dermott arrived in time to suit up on Saturday, the Wild didn’t need to insert him in the lineup with Brodin ready after sitting out eight games with an upper-body injury.

Up front, Zuccarello reunited with Kirill Kaprizov after missing a month with a lower-body injury.

His addition coincided with Yakov Trenin’s exit, as the forward was scratched with an upper-body injury. The Wild are also still without Joel Eriksson Ek, who is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

But the Wild still reset like they always have.

After Fleury’s best save of the year, a glove snare vs. Travis Konecny that robbed Konecny of a near empty-net goal, the Wild capitalized first when Kaprizov wired in a shot from near the goal line at 14 minutes, 18 seconds of the first period.

That lead doubled with 4:39 left in the second after Boldy got on the end of a Brock Faber clear for a 4-on-4 breakaway that he slid under the right pad of Philadelphia goalie Samuel Ersson (19 saves).

Boldy is the second-fastest player in team history to reach 200 points, getting there in 233 games to trail only Kaprizov’s 169.

Then, 9:34 into the third, Zuccarello set up Marco Rossi for his 11th goal before Kaprizov notched his 20th into an empty net with 2:11 to go for his 45th point, which is second in the NHL. Kaprizov’s six empty-netters lead the league.

Fleury improved to 6-1-1 in his 1,003rd start, which tied Patrick Roy for the third most in NHL history.