The Minnesota Wild started their 23rd season last night and they had a tough first opponent in the Florida Panthers who had an amazing run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. The Wild were also on home ice for their season opener and playing at The X “Hits Different” than anywhere else. There wasn’t a ton of change from last season for the 2023-24 Minnesota Wild so it’s up to this core group to get over the 1st-round playoff hump.
We think “They Can Get There!” Check out our Season Preview and let us know what you think.
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Status Report
Spurgeon is week to week and has not resumed skating. … Mermis, a defenseman, was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Thursday.
Florida Panthers
Status Report
Samsoskevich and Balinskis each will make his NHL debut. … Bennett, a center, did not make the trip but is getting closer to a return. … Lundell, who missed practice Wednesday with an undisclosed injury, took part in the Panthers morning skate Thursday but is a game-time decision.
Game Recap
1st Period
The Florida Panthers dominated the first 6+ minutes as they outshot the Minnesota Wild 9-2. At the 6:21 mark, the Wild had an offensive rush when F Ryan Hartman sent a pass to F Mats Zuccarello from the right boards of the neutral zone and Zuccy skated into the Panthers’ zone and was able to avoid a poke check then skated towards the right face-off dot while Ryan Hartman skated towards the center of the zone. D Alex Goligoski was trailing the play. Zuccarello curled back towards the blue line at the right half-wall and found Goligoski for a glorious chance but his shot was deflected away by Florida D Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The puck went behind the net and Goligoski was the first to it so he tried to throw it back in front of the net. It hit the back of the net and deflected to Ryan Hartman who tried a turnaround shot but that was saved by Florida G Sergei (Bob) Bobrovsky. OHHHH….
1:30 later, Minnesota Wild F Matt Boldy corralled a loose puck in the neutral zone and skated into the right side of the offensive zone. He was given some space by Panther D Josh Mahura so he turned to skate backward to see his options. Mahura then pressured him so he tipped the puck back toward the blue line where he knew he would get to it first then passed to Wild D Brock Faber at the right point and Faber sent a wrist shot from the point that went through everyone in front of the net and went into the left side of the net for Brock Faber’s 1st Career NHL Goal!!!
12:06 – Goal – Minnesota – Brock Faber (1) from Matt Boldy (1) & Joel Eriksson Ek (1)
One of the coolest things about a player’s 1st career goal is when a teammate knows to get the puck because it’s an important achievement that only happens once so… if you watch the video again, you’ll see it looks like Wild F Marcus Johansson is going to go celebrate the goal with his teammates but he turns back to go get the puck.
Florida Panthers 0 | 1 Minnesota Wild
With 4:41 remaining in the 1st, the Minnesota Wild had a fortunate bounce as a Florida clearing attempt went off a stanchion* and right to F Kirill Kaprizov but he couldn’t handle the puck to get a shot off so he tried to pass to Zuccarello but it was broken up by Florida F Carter Verhaeghe then deflected to Florida D Dmitry Kulikov. He made a bank pass off the left boards to try to create a 2-on-1 but the pass went a little too far and trickled past Wild D Jake Middleton. For some reason Middleton waited to turn around to get the puck and defended Florida F Evan Rodrigues. When he did turn around, he had to find the puck since it was behind him so Rodrigues got to it first and chopped at it to send it toward the front of the net. Wild G Filip Gustavsson deflected the pass to keep Verhaeghe from getting a good scoring chance.
*It’s a little crazy that the NHL or anyone has yet develop seamless glass so these crazy bounces don’t happen? Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
18:09 – Penalty – Minnesota – Ryan Hartman for Tripping Aleksander Barkov
Rodrigues then had a grade-A scoring chance from the right slot on a power play rush but he missed the net.
Florida Panthers 0 | 1 Minnesota Wild
Shots
14 | 5
2nd Period
The Minnesota Wild killed off the remaining 9 seconds of the Hartman tripping penalty to begin the 2nd period.
Florida rookie F Mackie Samoskevich hit the crossbar on a snapshot from the top of the right faceoff circle.
11:14 – Penalties – Coincidental – MN’s Matt Boldy for Cross-checking & FLA’s Josh Mahura for Roughing
During 4-on-4 play, Wild D Alex Goligoski hit the far post on a shot from the left top of the left faceoff circle.
1:32 into the 2 minutes of the 4-on-4 play…
12:48 – Penalty – Florida – Dmitry Kulikov for Tripping Mats Zuccarello
4-on-3 Power Play for 26 Seconds
The ensuing faceoff was at the left faceoff dot of Florida’s zone. Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek got enough of the puck on the faceoff to allow Mats Zuccarello to send it back to Kirill Kaprizov at the left point. Kaprizov passed it back to Zuccarello at the left half-wall and he tried to send a cross-ice pass to Marcus Johansson at the right faceoff dot but Florida F Kevin Stenlund got his stick on it but it deflected to the front of the net where Joel Eriksson Ek was parked in front of G Sergei Bobrovsky. Ek knew he had some time so he knocked the puck down so it would go to the left of the goalie and then he just put it into the open net. He made that look very easy.
12:56 – Goal (PPG) – Minnesota – Joel Eriksson Ek (1) from Mats Zuccarello (1) & Kirill Kaprizov (1)
That’s a fortuitous bounce for the Wild that put the defense in a bind because they are reading where the puck is going, not if it would be deflected.
Florida Panthers 0 | 2 Minnesota Wild
2 minutes later, Wild D Alex Goligoski saw F Marcus Foligno had a step on the Florida defense so he sent the puck into the Florida zone from the top of the right faceoff circle of his zone down the ice. Foligno negated the icing and got to Florida D Niko Mikkola in time to effect his pass around the right corner so the puck slowly went around the boards so Wild F Frédéric Gaudreau got to it first. He took a quick look and saw F Marco Rossi driving the net so he fed him the puck. It was a tough pass to handle but Rossi got enough of it to at least keep it in front of him as he crossed the front of the net. Florida G Sergei Bobrovsky went down into a reverse-vertical-horizontal position since the puck was below the goal line so when the puck came out in front of the net he pushed off from his left leg to move across the crease. Maybe he also assumed there would be an immediate shot but since the puck was bouncing, Marco Rossi finally corralled the puck then shot it into the gaping net for his 1st Career NHL Goal!!!
Florida Challenged the Play was Offside
There was a reason Foligno had a step on the Florida defense. He was also offside so NO GOAL for Marco Rossi! DOH! That sucks, huh?
1:30 later, Florida had a great chance as Anton Lundell received a pass at the left slot and was in on Gus all alone Gus Bus made the save but the puck squeaked through to the other side and Mackie Samoskevich had a shot at the rebound but Ryan Hartman blocked it to maybe save a goal. It’s hard to tell if that shot just hit the post or if Hartman &/or Gus made the save but it doesn’t matter so Team Save!
Florida had a good push in the final minutes of the period after Jake Middleton took an Interference penalty with 2:14 remaining in the 2nd period but the Wild blocked 3 shots and Florida missed 2 as well so, after two periods, it was still…
Florida Panthers 0 | 2 Minnesota Wild
Shots (Total)
12 (26) | 11 (16)
3rd Period
It got a little chippy in the 3rd which isn’t that surprising when you consider what Florida did last season. They won’t give up but the Wild weren’t going to back down either.
Florida had some chances on a power play off a Marcus Foligno Interference penalty that sure looked like a dive from Florida F Matthew Tkachuk.
They also forced Wild G Filip Gustavsson to make some great saves with their net empty and he was up to the task on ALL 41 SHOTS for his 4th Career Shutout! That deserves a shoutout!
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Final
Florida Panthers 0 | 2 Minnesota Wild
Goals
Minnesota Wild:
1. Brock Faber (1*); 2. Joel Eriksson Ek(PPG)(1)
*1st Career NHL Goal
FLA:
None
*PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists
Minnesota Wild:
1. Matt Boldy(1), Joel Eriksson Ek (1); 2. Mats Zuccarello (1), Kirill Kaprizov (1) (PPG)
FLA:
None
Goalies
Minnesota Wild:
Filip Gustavsson:
41 Saves on 41 Shots, 1.000 Save% – 1st Win; 1st Shutout of the Season; 4th Career Shutout
FLA:
Sergei “Bob” Bobrovsky
19 Saves on 21 Shots, .905 Save% – 1st Loss
Next Up:
The Minnesota Wild head to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs on Saturday at 6pm.
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