RALEIGH, N.C. — After a promising start in a tough environment, the Carolina Hurricanes found an answer for everything the Minnesota Wild could throw at them.
Matt Boldy had a pair of goals to snap out of a notable drought, and Minnesota’s special teams continued a strong stretch only to see the Hurricanes rally for a 4-3 win. Brock Faber added his second goal of the season for the Wild.
Looking for a third consecutive win, Minnesota twice held one-goal leads, and also came back to forge a 3-all tie, only to see the Hurricanes storm back at every turn.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t find a way to win the hockey game, but it was a hard-fought battle by both teams,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “They had pushes and surges, and we had pushes and surges. But, unfortunately, we weren’t the team to win it tonight.”
Filip Gustavsson, making his 12th start in goal for the Wild, had a shaky start, with Carolina scoring four times on its first eight shots. After that, the goalie settled in and finished with 23 saves.
“This is a really good team we’re playing against, and we’re matching up against them pretty good today,” said Gustavsson, who added that he didn’t do anything to get back into a groove later in the game.
Minnesota fell to 5-7-3 with the loss and is now 0-6-1 when trailing after the first period.
The Wild got the game’s first power play but could not muster a shot on goal. But with the teams back to even strength a short time later, Kirill Kaprizov got loose in the middle of the offensive zone and made a rush to the net that was thwarted. Boldy was able to punch the loose puck in before Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen could cover it.
Boldy had scored just once in the Wild’s previous 10 games.
“He’s been great. He’s obviously playing at such a high level,” Faber said. “You know, we need what we’re getting from him and he’s playing awesome hockey.”
After the Wild killed their first penalty of the game, fourth-line winger Tyler Pitlick leveled Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield with an open-ice check. After a brief fight, Chatfield was helped off the ice and Pitlick was ejected from the game for an illegal hit to the head.
Chatfield did not return to the game, officially listed as dealing with an upper body injury. Hynes denied that the penalty changed the character of the game, noting that the Wild killed the extended power play.
With the teams skating four-on-four, Carolina’s Jackson Blake made a coast-to-coast rush with the puck and snapped a low shot past Gustavsson to tie the game. But the Wild answered 31 seconds later, reclaiming the lead at 2-1 via a Faber wrist shot after set-up passes from Kaprizov and Marcus Johansson.
“Sweet, sweet play by Jojo, and good play by Kirill, and I kind of just shot it hard,” Faber said. “I don’t really know where it went.”
Johansson’s assist extended his career-best point streak to seven games.
The lead was brief as Andrei Svechnikov fooled Gustavsson with a low shot on the next shift. The trio of goals in 52 seconds was the fastest three-goal span in the NHL this season.
The Wild killed the rest of the extended penalty, only to see Carolina take the lead on a long shot through a crowd in front of the Minnesota net five seconds after the teams were back to full strength.
Minnesota had three shots in the first period, and Andersen stopped one of them.
Opening the middle frame on a power play, the Wild needed 37 seconds to forge a tie again when Vladimir Tarasenko fed Boldy for a tap-in. The tie was again brief, as Carolina scored on the ensuing faceoff, 9 seconds later, to lead 4-3.
Hynes admitted that the start was rough for his goalie, but praised him for righting the ship.
“I thought he settled in after the first period, and the one in the second was not on him. But in the first, it wasn’t what we needed it to be,” Hynes said. “But I really like the fact that he gathered himself, and he competed and battled and kept it at four and gave us a chance to get right to the striking distance of the game.”
With just over eight minutes left in regulation, Kaprizov looked to have an open net for the tying goal, only to have Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker disrupt the play. Minnesota made a furious final push with Gustavsson on the bench but could not get the equalizer.
Andersen finished with 19 saves for the Hurricanes, who make their only visit to St. Paul this season on Nov. 19.
Minnesota’s penalty killers, who were worst, statistically, in the NHL just a few games ago, have now negated the last seven opponent power plays.
The Wild’s current two-game Eastern road swing concludes on Friday night when they visit the New York Islanders for the only time this season. Their game at UBS Arena on Long Island faces off at 6 p.m. CT.
Briefly
The Hurricanes lineup featured three veterans of Minnesota prep hockey: K’Andre Miller (Minnetonka), Mike Reilly (Holy Angels) and Blake (Eden Prairie). But the Wild lineup featured the only player from the Carolinas. Ryan Hartman was raised in suburban Chicago, but he was born in 1994 in Hilton Head Island, S.C. and was the first NHL player born in South Carolina.
0 Comments