The Minnesota Wild (34-27-8) extended their point streak to eight games in a dominant 4-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks (23-43-3) inside Honda Center on Tuesday as they continue to chase after a wild-card spot with time running out.
Ryan Hartman, Jon Merrill, Kirill Kaprizov and Jake Lucchini were the goal scorers and Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves for the Wild in his third shutout of the year and first game in 10 days as the team has rolled with the red-hot Marc-Andre Fleury as of late.
Kaprizov scored his team-leading 36th goal of the season and 150th career goal, Adam Beckman recorded his third career point (second during this call-up and this season) with an assist on Lucchini's third-period goal and Marat Khusnutdinov had another strong performance in his third NHL game.
The 21-year-old speedy Khusnutdinov recorded his first career point by assisting on Merrill's second-period marker, which gave the Wild a 2-0 lead.
Khusnutdinov, whose faceoff win led to Merrill's goal, won six of his nine faceoff draws and finished the game with a point, shot, two hits and a +1 rating in 13:48 of ice time — his highest time-on-ice-total thus far.
Everything went well for the Wild in a game that they controlled until Jonas Brodin left the game midway through the third period and didn't return after he was dropped to the ice by Ducks forward Alex Killorn. The Wild can't afford to lose Brodin right now, so his lower-body injury looms large.
The Wild are now 13-4-3 since the bye week and All-Star break. And although teams in front of them in the standings have continued to win, the Wild's strong play right now is giving them a chance to continue their push for a playoff spot.
Both the Nashville Predators and L.A. Kings won Tuesday, but the Wild did get some help as the St. Louis Blues fell 4-3 to the Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights lost 5-3 to the Lightning.
The Wild now sit just three points behind the eighth-place Golden Knights heading into Wednesday's contest versus the Kings. Then, the Wild head home for their longest (six games) and most important homestand of the season, which will last two weeks starting on Saturday against the Blues.