ST. PAUL — Near the end of the second period on Monday afternoon, the Minnesota Wild look destined for a loss on home ice to the NHL's best team.
With six and half minutes left, J.T. Miller scored his third goal of the afternoon to give the visiting Vancouver Canucks a 5-2 lead. The Wild controlled the first and stifled the Canucks offensive attack, but Minnesota got away from their game in the second and were paying for it.
Even more painful was the St. Louis Blues, who sit in the second wild-card spot, lost 4-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Wild looked like they were about to miss out on a golden opportunity to get within two points of a playoff spot.
“We weren’t playing bad,” Matt Boldy said. “Even their goals, they pushed a bit in the beginning of the second, but it wasn’t anything that was outrageous that we were just giving to them. … We thought we were playing (a) good game (and) controlling the pace. So, you just stick with it and hope to get some.”
Well, the Wild stuck with it, and that “some” was a touchdown. It all started when Mats Zuccarello beat Casey DeSmith on a five-on-three power play opportunity with 32 seconds left on the clock to cut the Wild's deficit to 5-3 heading into the third period. A goal that proved to give the Wild some life.
“That was a big goal,” coach John Hynes said. “We got key goals at key times.”
Whatever happened or was said between the second and third worked. Well, nothing significant happened. “Nothing out of the ordinary," Boldy said.
Regardless, the Wild erupted in the third with a franchise record seven-goal period to complete what felt like an improbable comeback after that Miller back-breaking marker reestablished Vancouver’s three-goal lead in the second.
Kirill Kaprizov (three), Joel Eriksson Ek (two), Marco Rossi and Jonas Brodin all scored in the Wild's seven-goal third-period eruption en route to a record-setting 10-7 comeback victory over the Canucks inside Xcel Energy Center.
Both Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek finished the game with a hat trick and a career-high six points, while Boldy and Zuccarello had four points each.
“That was an up-and-down game, but I thought to find a way to win, it was obviously important for us,” Hynes said.
“After the first and second, it was a very similar message. I didn't think the score was indicative of how the game was being played. Lots of times we were in control of the game but weren't in control of the scoreboard, so it was important for us to capitalize on the power plays and cut the lead and then get to the attack game that we talked about. I thought we managed the puck well, pressured in the offensive zone.”
Three of those seven goals came on the power play and two were at even-strength before the Wild scored twice on an empty net in the final 67 seconds.
"When you score a lot of goals like we did in (the) third period,” Kaprizov said, “I think it's just feeling better (about) yourself.” Two of the Wild's three 5-on-3 goals in the game came in the third. “Not too much,” Boldy said in response to how much they practice five-on-three situations. ... “A lot of it’s just kind of find space, get open. A little bit of structure, but nothing too crazy.”
The Wild, whose previous franchise record for goals in a game was eight, extended their point streak to six in the win that pushed them to within two points of the eighth-place Blues.
Eriksson Ek had the Wild's lone first-period goal, and Boldy scored the other second-period marker. Filip Gustavsson allowed five goals on 16 shots in the first two periods. Marc-Andre Fleury, who started the third in relief for Gustavsson, made six saves on eight shots.
“It was good that we capitalized on the power plays,” Ryan Hartman said. “We did a lot of good things. Can't say we defended really well — giving up seven goals — but we responded the right way. 10 should do it.”
While it was a back and forth game and not the Wild's best game by any means, they continue to play right now like a team who can make the playoffs.
And, on Monday, they once again showed they not only can compete with the NHL's best but win. Since Jan. 15, the Wild are 9-3-1 and have scored a league-high 4.08 goals per game.
“I think we know how we have to play, the style that suits us best to get points,” Boldy said. “A lot of guys in here (are) doing it for each other, for the guy next to him, and I think that’s kind of the mindset pushing forward to kind of find that playoff spot.”
“I think we (have) played well,” Eriksson Ek said of the Wild's recent play out of the break. “Played solid. Not too high and not too low and just try to let the game come to us and not chase it too much.”
The Wild hope to continue their success tomorrow night in Winnipeg. “We were prepared to play the style of game that gives us a chance to win,” Hynes said. “Now, to me, the real challenge is there's two more points on the table tomorrow.”
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