Friday night, the Minnesota Wild went into the Honda Center in Anaheim and started out great, scoring three goals in a span of five minutes while defeating the Ducks 5-2.
RELATED: Wild Defeat Sharks 5-2
As the game went on, you could tell the Wild were on the second half of back-to-back games as they were running on fumes. Just over 24 hours before, Minnesota defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-2.
Best Players Big Again
Filip Gustavsson has been struggling off and on in his previous four starts. After allowing four goals Tuesday night versus the Los Angeles Kings, he got back on track tonight being the Wild’s best player throughout the 60 minutes making 32 saves in the win.
Kirill Kaprizov came into Friday night tied for the NHL points lead. He left tonight’s game three points ahead as he scored twice and added one assist. It’s his mind-boggling sixth three-point performance this season. The Russian sniper now has 27 points in only 14 games this season.
Penalty Kill Came Up Huge
Halfway through the third period, the Wild found themselves scrambling as Robby Fabbri cut the team’s lead to two goals. Minnesota had to kill off six minutes in penalties but hung on going a perfect six for six on the penalty kill. The Ducks’ backbreaker came just over one minute after the penalties when Marco Rossi scored to make it 4-1.
The Wild have another quick turnaround as they are in Chicago Sunday night to play the Blackhawks.
