Rest. Practice. New lines. Old combinations.
The Wild kept testing out different remedies for their season-long funk, and they finally found the cure in a 5-4 shootout win over the Rangers on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center to snap their four-game slide.
Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy outscored New York’s Artemi Panarin during the shootout after an emotional rollercoaster of a third period that saw the Wild (4-5-2) finally overcome a three-goal, four-shot, first-period blitz by the Rangers before Chris Kreider converted to send the game back to Square 1.
Before this, the Rangers won six in a row, the longest winning streak in the NHL, and they arrived as advertised.
Even without some key players, like standout defenseman Adam Fox (injured), New York took control quickly: A puck deflected in off Jimmy Vesey at 3:36, Panarin extended his point streak to 11 games on a seeing-eye shot at 5:52 and just 1:01 after that Erik Gustafsson converted off the rush.
Those three goals in just 3:17 chased goaltender Filip Gustavsson from the game; he left after making just one stop on four shots, and Marc-Andre Fleury (14 saves in relief) took over for his first appearance since last Sunday.
The Wild’s comeback could have started later in the first; they went on the power play three times, throwing 10 shots on net, but didn’t capitalize. Neither did New York, the Wild’s penalty going a perfect 1-for-1 after giving up five goals over the previous two games.
But the Wild were applying pressure, and that eventually culminated in a two-goal, 29 second outburst in the second period.
The rebound from a Dakota Mermis shot sat on the goal line until Ryan Hartman nudged it all the way into the net at 5:57 for Hartman’s team-leading seventh goal. Then on the very next shift, rookie Brock Faber set up Joel Eriksson Ek for a tap-in by goalie Jonathan Quick at 6:26.
Even without scoring any more goals that period, the Wild dominated play, the Rangers testing Fleury only five times in the second and that game of keep-away continued in the third.
After getting denied on five attempts through the first two period, Zuccarello redeemed himself at 1:41 when he tipped a puck by Quick.
Now at equilibrium, the Wild didn’t slow down: Kirill Kaprizov’s pass took a fortuitous hop off a broken stick to Marco Rossi for a one-time shot at 5:20 that Quick didn’t get enough of to keep out. Rossi’s five goals are tied for tops among NHL rookies with the Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard. Quick made 36 stops in just his third start of the season, with the Wild avoiding the 6-2 Igor Shesterkin.
But the Wild’s hard-fought lead was short-lived.
By 6:40, the Rangers responded on Kreider’s deflection.
The Wild would get another chance on the power play after Mika Zibanejad was sent off for tripping, but that opportunity didn’t result in the go-ahead goal.
Getting back to full strength didn’t help the Rangers much; they were hemmed in their zone by the Wild, New York not getting its longest reprieve until the horn sounded to end regulation.
