The Minnesota Wild face a test in their game against the Philadelphia Flyers. A tough test? Yes… because Philly is the 2nd worst teams (by record) in the National Hockey League right now so the test is if the Wild can stick to their game and not play down to their opponent. In the NHL, any team can beat any other team at any time. Hopefully, the Wild will keep playing as well as they have been playing as they look to extend their winning streak to 5 in Philadelphia.
2024-25 Minnesota Wild Schedule and Results
5-0-2 (W-L-OTL) (12 points)
2nd in the NHL Central Division
2024-25 Philadelphia Flyers Schedule and Results
1-5-1 (W-L-OTL) (3 points)
8th in the NHL Metropolitan Division
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
––––– CP –––––
Here’s how the teams lined up:
Game Recap
1st Period
The Minnesota Wild struggled defensively in the opening minutes. The two wings were too deep in the zone. That allowed Philly to get the puck back & across to the right point for a shot. Wild G Filip Gustavsson made the save but he didn’t control it well. Philly F Sean Couturier pounced on the juicy rebound to give the Flyers an early 1-goal lead.
18:42 – Goal – Philadelphia – Sean Couturier (1) from (1) & (2)
Does Kirill Kaprizov hinder Gustavsson’s view of the shot in his attempt to block the shot? Does it deflect off of him? It’s hard to tell. On the replay, it doesn’t look like Kaprizov affected the shot or Gustavsson’s ability to see it. He didn’t control the puck very well and made the save in the middle of his pads so he should’ve been able to absorb it into his pads and freeze it.
Minnesota Wild 0 | 1 Philadelphia Flyers
2:33 later, the Wild thought they forced a turnover in the neutral zone but the puck went right to Flyers rookie F Matvei Michkov. He easily skated with the puck into the offensive zone and the Wild failed to pick up D Nick Seeler trailing the play so he had a point blank shot and he fired it past Gustavsson and under 5 minutes into the game the Wild trailed by 2 goals.
16:09 – Goal – Philadelphia – Nick Seeler (1) from (3) & (5)
Minnesota Wild 0 | 2 Philadelphia Flyers
2nd Period
There was an early tripping penalty in the neutral zone from Philadelphia Flyers F Scott Laughton that put the Minnesota Wild on the Power Play. During the power play, another penalty was called when Garnet Hathaway hit Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek in the face with a forearm that certainly looks like a dirty play.
5:06 – Goal – Minnesota – Brock Faber (1) from Kirill Kaprizov (10) & Joel Eriksson Ek (2)
Minnesota Wild 1 | 2 Philadelphia Flyers
4:33 – Goal – Minnesota – Marcus Foligno (1) from Declan Chisholm (1)
Minnesota Wild 2 | 2 Philadelphia Flyers
1:44 – Goal – Philadelphia – Matvei Michkov (4) from Sean Couturier (2) & Owen Tippett (3)
Minnesota Wild 2 | 3 Philadelphia Flyers
0:04 – Goal – PPG – Minnesota – Joel Eriksson Ek (4) from Kirill Kaprizov (11) & Matt Boldy (7)
Minnesota Wild 3 | 3 Philadelphia Flyers
3rd Period
17:42 – Goal – Minnesota – Marcus Foligno (2) from Zach Bogosian (2) & Jonas Brodin (5)
Minnesota Wild 4 | 3 Philadelphia Flyers
15:05 – Goal – PPG – Philadelphia – Travis Konecny (4) from Morgan Frost (4) & Owen Tippett (4)
Minnesota Wild 4 | 4 Philadelphia Flyers
11:34 – Goal – Philadelphia – Sean Couturier (2) from Travis Konecny (4) & Nick Seeler (1)
Minnesota Wild 4 | 5 Philadelphia Flyers
6:32 – Goal – Minnesota – Jake Middleton (2) Unassisted
Minnesota Wild 5 | 5 Philadelphia Flyers
2:24 – Goal – Philadelphia – Rasmus Ristolainen (1) from Sean Couturier (3) & Travis Konecny (5)
Minnesota Wild 5 | 6 Philadelphia Flyers
This the best view of the whole play. In a 1-goal game, how does an official just call Mats Zuccarello here?
1:00 – Goal – ENG – Philadelphia – Sean Couturier (3) from Noah Cates (1) & Travis Sanheim (1)
Minnesota Wild 5 | 7 Philadelphia Flyers
The Wild responded and had a chance to win but they should learn from having a bad start (1st early game this season) and learn that every team will bring their best against a team that’s rolling.
––––– CP –––––
Final
Minnesota Wild 5 | 7 Philadelphia Flyers
Goals
MN:
Brock Faber (1), Marcus Foligno (2), Joel Eriksson Ek (4)-PPG, Marcus Foligno (2), Jake Middleton (2)
PHI:
Sean Couturier (1), Nick Seeler (1), Matvei Michkov (4), Travis Konecny (4)-PPG, Sean Couturier (2), Rasmus Ristolainen (1), Sean Couturier (3)-ENG
Assists
MN:
Kirill Kaprizov (10), Joel Eriksson Ek (2); Declan Chisholm (1); Kirill Kaprizov (11), Matt Boldy (7)-PPG, Zach Bogosian (2), Jonas Brodin (5); Unassisted
PHI:
Rasmus Ristolainen (1), Travis Konecny (2); Travis Konency (3), Matvei Michkov (5); Sean Couturier (2), Owen Tippett (3); Morgan Frost (4), Owen Tippett (4)-PPG; Travis Konecny (4), Nick Seeler (1); Sean Couturier (3), Travis Konecny (5); Noah Cates (1), Travis Sanheim (1)-ENG
Goalies
MN:
Filip Gustavsson
16 Saves on 22 Sots; .727 Save %, 2.17 GAA*; 1st Loss
PHI:
Samuel Ersson
21 Saves on 26 Shots; .808 Save %, 3.56 GAA*; 2nd Win
*Goals Against Average
––––– CP –––––
Next up:
The Wild go to Pittsburgh to play Sidney Crosby and the Penguins on Tuesday, October 29th at 6:00 pm on FanDuel Sports Network North.
––––– CP –––––
Thanks for Reading!!!
Bring the Clutter in the comments &/or on
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn…
AND…as always…
