28 January 2024
Well, this isn’t what the Wild wanted. At all.
Focused on taking care of business in their last game, and taking some positive momentum into a 10-day break, the Wild instead coughed up a third-period lead in a 3-2 loss to an Anaheim Ducks team that has been scuffling all season.
Troy Terry scored twice for Anaheim, a tying goal in the first period and the go-ahead goal in the third, and Lukas Dostal stopped 35 shots to send the Wild into their all-star break, and bye week, with two straight losses.
It’s a big blow for a Wild team desperately trying to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff race. They squandered a chance to pull closer to Nashville for the eighth and final playoff position in a 3-2 loss on Thursday, then fumbled a chance at two points against one of the worst three teams in the NHL on Saturday.
Kirill Kaprizov and Jon Merrill scored goals, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 22 of 25 shots he faced. Coach John Hynes pulled Gustavsson with 1:35 remaining, but the Wild had trouble getting traction in the Ducks’ zone.
And now the Wild have 10 days to stew over it.
Already playing with 11 forwards because Marcus Foligno was sick, the Wild lost forward Pat Maroon to an apparent injury early. He played only 4 minutes and 15 seconds, and Minnesota also lost forwards Freddy Gaudreau and Ryan Hartman for parts of Saturday’s game — although those two finished the game.
Gustavsson, playing in his fifth straight game — four of them starts — made some big saves, including two one-on-none breakaways.
In the first period, former Gophers blue liner Jackson LaCombe blocked a shot by Jake Lucchini and outraced him for the puck before skating in alone. But he couldn’t get the puck past Gustavsson.
In the second period, Adam Henrique, leaving the box after a hooking penalty, got behind the Wild defense, with speed, for a breakaway — but Gustavsson foiled his fake and backhand with a stick save.
The Wild opened the scoring early when Zuccarello, from the left circle, fired a pass to Kaprizov in the right circle — and he one-timed it past Dostal for a 1-0 lead at 6:39.
The Ducks, however, evened it up less than two minutes later. Bo Groulx dug a puck out of the corner, kicking it back to Frank Vatrano — who skated toward the net and passed to Terry, who was alone in the slot. Terry beat Gustavsson to the short side to make it 1-1 at 8:17.
The Wild regained the lead late in the first period when Zuccarello, at the point between the circles, sent a wrist shot on net. On-ice officials ruled the puck was touched by teammate Jon Merrill before it landed in the back of the net, giving the defenseman his second goal of the season, and the Wild at 2-1 lead at 18:37.
Minnesota appeared to extend that lead early in the second period when Marcus Johansson sniped a shot from the right circle into the far top corner. It might have been tipped by teammate Matt Boldy, but it didn’t matter. The goal was waived off after Anaheim successfully challenged for an offsides call.