The Minnesota Wild ended their 7-game road trip with a game in Pittsburgh against the Penguins. The Pittsburgh Penguins just finished a 4-game road trip through Canada and they lost all 4 games. They had lost 5 in a row overall. Did the Wild make it 6 in a row?

2024-25 Minnesota Wild Schedule and Results
5-1-2 (W-L-OTL) (12 points)
2nd in NHL Central Division

2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins Schedule and Results
3-6-1 (W-L-OTL) (12 points)
6th in NHL Metropolitan Division

This game was the Minnesota Wild against the Pittsburgh Penguins but the spotlight was shining very brightly on Wild & former Penguins G Marc-André Fleury since Pittsburgh is where he began his NHL career 21 years ago after he was selected with the #1 overall pick in the 2003 NHL Draft by the Penguins and this was very likely the last time he would play in Pittsburgh.* 
*Unless… somehow the Minnesota Wild & Pittsburgh Penguins meet in The Stanley Cup Finals! Unlikely? Yes. Possible. Yes.

He helped them win 3 Stanley Cups over 13 seasons but G Matt Murray had taken over the #1 goalie role in Pittsburgh so Marc-André Fleury was exposed in the expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights to select. That was largely due to his $5.75M Salary/Cap Hit which is a lot for a backup goalie.* This showed what kind of player Marc-André Fleury was because he came within 2 wins of winning the Stanley Cup (3 in a row) but Vegas lost to the Washington Capitals and some Ovechkin guy. 

That season, he finished 5th in voting for the Vezina Trophy for the League’s Best Goalie. His numbers were better or equal to the winner but he played fewer games. He won the Vezina 4 seasons later along with the Jennings Trophy.

That’s on the ice! Off the ice, he’s known as a great teammate and maybe the greatest prankster in the league over his 21 seasons. Ask Brandon Duhaime or just look for the videos celebrating his final game in Pittsburgh.

Alright. Enough words. Let’s…

Drop the ClutterPuck!!!

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Here’s how the teams lined up:

Game Recap

1st Period

The Minnesota Wild took consecutive penalties halfway into the 1st period and Pittsburgh took advantage of the 2nd power play to go up 1-0.

8:24 – Goal – PPG – Pittsburgh – Valtteri Puustinen (1) from Matt Grzelcyk (5) & Sidney Crosby (7)

Minnesota Wild 0 | 1 Pittsburgh Penguins

Just shy of 4 minutes later, Pittsburgh scored again and the state of Pennsylvania hasn’t been good to the Minnesota Wild so far. Hopefully, it improves… SOON!

4:29 – Goal – Pittsburgh – Rickard Rakell (5) from Kris Letang (2) & Sidney Crosby (8)

Minnesota Wild 0 | 2 Pittsburgh Penguins

2:57 – Goal – Minnesota – Jakub Lauko (2) from Marat Khusnutdinov (2)

Minnesota Wild 1 | 2 Pittsburgh Penguins

2:02 – Goal – Minnesota – Frederick Gaudreau (1) Unassisted

Minnesota Wild 2 | 2 Pittsburgh Penguins

2nd Period

18:22 – Goal – Minnesota – Frederick Gaudreau (2) from Kirill Kaprizov (12) & Brock Faber (4)

Minnesota Wild 3 | 2 Pittsburgh Penguins

0:37 – Goal – Minnesota – Mats Zuccarello (5) from Kirill Kaprizov (13) & Marco Rossi (5)

Minnesota Wild 4 | 2 Pittsburgh Penguins

3rd Period

16:24 – Goal – Pittsburgh – Rickard Rakell (6) from Marcus Pettersson (5) & Sidney Crosby (9)

Minnesota Wild 4 | 3 Pittsburgh Penguins

0:19 – Goal – ENG – Minnesota – Kirill Kaprizov (5) from Frederick Gaudreau (1) & Jake Middleton (5)

Minnesota Wild 5 | 3 Pittsburgh Penguins

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Final
Minnesota Wild 5 | 3 Pittsburgh Penguins

Goals

MN:
Jakub Lauko (2); Frederick Gaudreau (1, 2); Mats Zuccarello (5); Kirill Kaprizov (5)-ENG
PIT:
Valtteri Puustinen (1)-PPG; Rickard Rakell (5, 6)

Assists

MN:
Marat Khusnutdinov (2); Unassisted; Kirill Kaprizov (12) & Brock Faber (4); Kirill Kaprizov (13), Marco Rossi (5); Frederick Gaudreau (1), Jake Middleton (5)-ENG
PIT:
Matt Grzelcyk (5), Sidney Crosby (7)-PPG; Kris Letang (2), Sidney Crosby (8); Marcus Pettersson (5), Sidney Crosby (9)

Goalies

MN:
Marc-André Fleury
26 Saves on 29 Shots; .897 Save %, 2.93 GAA*; 2nd Win
PIT:
Joel Blomqvist
35 Saves on 39 Shots; .897 Save %, 3.46 GAA*; 4th Loss

*Goals Against Average

Shift Chart

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Next up: 

The Minnesota Wild return home after the best road trip in franchise history. They’ll take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, November 1st at 7 pm on FanDuel Sports Network North. 

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