13 October 2023
Brock Faber scored his first NHL goal and Filip Gustavsson stopped 41 shots as the Wild beat defending Eastern Conference champion Florida, 2-0, in the opener for both clubs Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.
Faber scored to give the Wild a little bit of breathing room early in the first period.
With Florida skating circles around Minnesota, outshooting the Wild 10-2, Faber got the puck just inside the blue line and snapped a wrist shot through traffic that flew untouched past Sergei Bobrovsky into the far corner for a 1-0 lead at 7:54.
The Wild held onto that lead throughout the first period with some timely defensive plays and, most conspicuously, the play of Gustavsson, who faced a barrage of early Grade A chances from the Panthers. Florida outshot the Wild 13-6 in the period, and many of those 13 shots required quick glove and pad saves.
Minnesota came out in the second period ready for Florida’s speed and matched it with a tenacity that was missing in the first. The Wild had their first real forecheck of the game midway through the period, and it seemed to energize them.
An Alex Goligoski one-timer from above the left circle nearly found the net, and a hot Minnesota rush ended with Florida wing Mackie Samoskevich in the Florida net with Bobrovsky. That touched off a skirmish behind the net that ultimately sent Josh Mahura (roughing) and Matt Boldy (cross-checking) to the box.
On the ensuing 4 on 4, Florida defenseman Dmitri Kulikov tripped Mats Zuccarello in the high slot, giving the Wild 26 seconds of 4 on 3, and they increased their lead almost immediately. Zuccarello sent a soft pass into the slot, and Joel Eriksson Ek stopped it with his stick, corralled it and poked it into an empty corner to give the Wild a 2-0 lead at 12:56.
It appeared the Wild took a 3-0 lead moments later on a forecheck by the third line. Marcus Foligno won a battle in the corner, and Freddie Gaudreau passed to the slot, where Marco Rossi grabbed it. The center took it wide, turned and fired for a top-shelf goal. But Florida challenged offsides after the goal, and replay showed Foligno had entered the zone before the puck.
The Wild’s penalty kill withstood a late barrage after Jake Middleton was sent to the box for interference, the only penalty called after a long, multi-player fracas near the Wild net with just more than 2 minutes left in the period.