Another road rout as Wild shoot down Ducks

Minnesota’s fifth consecutive win came with a rejiggered first line leading the way on the bench and on the scoresheet

By Jess Myers, Pioneer Press – December 7, 2024

ANAHEIM, Calif. — As injuries continue to pile up on the Minnesota Wild, and the team keeps finding ways to win with what they have left, the classic “next man up” attitude has taken over the locker room.

On Friday night in Southern California, Marco Rossi was the next man up.

Centering a rejiggered top line, Rossi turned in his first two-goal game of the season as the Wild coasted past a struggling flock of Anaheim Ducks 5-1 in the opener of a three-game road trip.

Filip Gustavsson had 26 saves as Minnesota’s league-best record away from home grew to 11-1-3. The Wild’s only regulation loss on the road was six weeks ago, before Halloween.

Kirill Kaprizov scored early in the third and set up goals by Matt Boldy and Rossi, recording his 40th point of the season in his 25th game. That shattered a team record Kaprizov set two seasons ago when he reached 40 points in 31 games.

“They were very good. They were obviously difference-makers in the game with the points, for sure, but I thought that they kind of set the example of how we needed to play the game,” Wild coach John Hynes said, in praise of his top line.

“I thought they were smart with the puck. All three of them were intense. I thought they were responsible with the puck. It was good to see, and I’m glad that when they play that style of game, they get rewarded for it on the scoresheet.”

Yakov Trenin got his first goal in a Wild uniform with 77 seconds remaining, hitting an empty net from beyond the far blue line as the wild recorded their fifth straight win, venue notwithstanding.

With normal top-line center Joel Eriksson Ek now officially out of the lineup for a number of weeks following a lower body injury suffered in overtime versus Vancouver earlier this week, and Mats Zuccarello’s return still likely weeks away, Rossi took over the top center position between Kaprizov and Boldy.

Kaprizov also logged double shift time on the wing with Freddie Gaudreau and Trenin, as well.

“With Zuccy and Ekky out now, we just try and put us together. We play before, a couple shifts sometimes in different games, but today we play whole game together,” Kaprizov said. “I feel like Marco fast, Bolds fast. I’m a little bit fast, and (we) just feel each other a little bit, just try and create offense and enjoy playing together.”

The Wild tested Ducks goalie John Gibson early and often, with a Kaprizov deflection dribbling just wide of the post and a Ryan Hartman low shot slipping past the goalie but stalling in the crease before the Ducks swatted it away from danger.

In the opposite end of the rink, Gustavsson got some iron assistance early when Mason McTavish clanked a shot off the post after getting behind the Minnesota defenders.

After a scoreless first period, Jon Merrill was tripped by Farmington, Minn., product Drew Helleson behind the Ducks net, and the Kaprizov-to-Rossi connection clicked on the game’s first power play, with Rossi shelving a long cross-ice pass into the upper corner. Rossi was lurking by the crease a few minutes later and got credit for the goal when Gibson lost track of a loose puck and inadvertently kicked it into his own net, doubling Minnesota’s lead.

Two shifts later, Boldly was at the side of the crease to slam home his 12th, capping off a pretty passing play with Rossi and Kaprizov. Less than a minute later, a quick whistle prevented a second Boldy goal, as his shot got past Gibson and was loose in the crease before the play was blown dead. Faber swatted the puck into the net for good measure anyway, kicking off a brief dust-up between Faber and Anaheim’s Frank Vatrano, which ended with both men in the penalty box and the Wild on another power play.

“Marco’s a first line center, there’s no doubt about it,” said Boldy, playing with the Austrian speedster on a regular basis for the first time since they were Iowa Wild teammates. “So, for him to step into that role, it’s — I don’t want to say it’s easy, but he’s used to it.”

Gustavsson did solid work with the limited offense that Anaheim generated in the first 40 minutes, stopping Brett Leason on a short breakaway in the second. He also got some help, with Jared Spurgeon swatting a puck away when the goalie was out of position and Ducks center Ryan Strome had a yawning net in front of him.

dThe Wild goalie was 3:23 away from his third shutout of the season when a seeing-eye shot through a crowd eluded him, giving what was left of the crowd a reason to cheer.

Gibson finished with 28 saves for the Ducks, who come to St. Paul on April 15 to close the regular season.

The Wild face the second half of a challenging back-to-back on Saturday, visiting the Los Angeles Kings on short rest, for a 7 p.m. CT game. They fell 5-1 to the Kings in St. Paul on Election Night in their most lopsided loss of the season.