24 January 2024
After losing 8 of 9 games to fall eight points out of a playoff spot, and five behind the 12th-place team in the Western Conference at the midpoint of the Wild’s season, general manager Bill Guerin openly broached the idea of shedding veterans at the March 8 trade deadline.
He didn’t want to, he said, but if his team kept losing, he’d have little choice.
The Wild responded with a convincing, 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders, starting a string of strong play that was extended Tuesday with a 5-3 victory over the Washington Capitals at Xcel Energy Center.
Marcus Johansson scored twice, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 of 34 shots as Minnesota won for the fourth time in five games to pull within four points of idle Nashville for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West — with a head-to-head matchup with the Predators on Thursday at the X.
Brock Faber, Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek each scored a goal for Minnesota, which made life miserable for Washington goaltender Darcy Keumper. The former Wild goalie stopped 25 of 30 shots.
Anthony Mantha scored twice, and T.J. Oshie added one goal for the Capitals, who scored twice in the closing three minutes, then pulled Kuemper for an extra attacker.
The Wild jumped on the Capitals early when Faber broke the seal with just 97 seconds off the clock. Mats Zuccarello sent a shot wide right of the net, and it caromed left off the end boards. Skating in, Faber corralled it and slipped it just inside the post before Kuemper could get back for a 1-0 lead.
Three minutes later, Jake Middleton forced a turnover just over the Caps’ blue line, and Eriksson Ek started a rush, sending the puck to Matt Boldy above the left circle. With Foligno at the crease, Boldly fired a shot that was deflected high by Dylan Strome. But it flew right at Foligno, who stopped with his glove.
Foligno dropped the puck in the paint and knocked it in before Keumper could respond to make it 2-0 at 4:42.
Johansson increased the Wild’s lead to three when he skated the puck out of his own zone, across to the neutral zone and into the left circle and fired a wrist shot far side that crept underneath Kuemper’s glove at 6:20 to make it 3-0.
The Capitals responded with their best extended push, dictating play for the rest of the period and making it 3-1.
Martin Fahervary gloved a soft outlet lob from Pat Maroon and sent it back into the zone with a pass to Anthony Mantha heading down the left boards. Mantha passed across ice to Evgeny Kuznetsov and skated into the slot, where Kuznetsov found him for an easy one-timer past Gustavsson at 10 minutes.
The Wild survived another lopsided 10 minutes to take a two-goal lead into the second intermission, and Eriksson Ek took a pass in the neutral zone and skated into the right circle before firing a strong wrist shot that beat Keumper for a 4-1 lead at 1:37 of the third period.