SAINT PAUL, MN – MARCH 24: Joel Eriksson Ek #14 of the Minnesota Wild takes a faceoff against Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on March 24, 2022 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Joel Eriksson Ek scored 31 seconds into overtime, Cam Talbot made 26 saves and the Minnesota Wild kept rolling with a 3-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and Kevin Fiala also scored for Minnesota, which has won four in a row and is 6-1-1 in its last eight games. Talbot has won his past seven starts.
The Wild (80 points) moved one point ahead of St. Louis for second place in the Central Division after the Blues lost at home to Philadelphia.
Bo Horvat scored his 25th goal and J.T. Miller added his 27th for Vancouver. Miller had a shot ring off the post in overtime right before Eriksson Ek’s game-winner.
Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks makes a save against Kevin Fiala #22 of the Minnesota Wild in the second period at Xcel Energy Center on March 24, 2022 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
Thatcher Demko, who has played in 20 of the past 21 games, stopped 33 shots for the Canucks. Vancouver has lost six of eight and was coming off a 3-1 win in Colorado the previous night.
Minnesota bolstered its roster at Monday’s trade deadline, with the most notable acquisition being three-time Stanley Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury from Chicago. Talbot had a spell of five straight games allowing at least four goals, which led general manager Bill Guerin to consider his need for help in net.
Talbot recovered from his slump and the Wild now have a tandem to turn to in the playoffs. Talbot has allowed five total goals in starting four straight games, including a 28-save shutout of Vegas on the same day Minnesota acquired Fleury.
Horvat put the Canucks on the board early thanks to a fortunate bounce.
Talbot made a sprawling save on Brock Boeser. Oliver Ekman-Larsson sent the puck along the boards and it hit Wild defenseman Jake Middleton, ricocheting out to center where Horvat was all alone in front for a quick goal.
Horvat has 11 goals and six assists in his last 16 games.
Kaprizov answered before the end of the first period with his 33rd goal of the season, taking advantage of a turnover to keep the puck in the Minnesota offensive zone.
It was the 60th goal of the sophomore’s NHL career in his 116th game. According to NHL Stats, only one active player, Alex Ovechkin (95 games) needed fewer to reach the mark.
Fiala gave the Wild the lead just 1:44 into the second when a faceoff to the right of Demko went straight back to the netminder. Demko kicked the puck aside, but it went right to Fiala, who spun around and scored.
Miller tied the game with 7:56 remaining in the third with a big shot past Talbot six seconds into a power play.
* New faces in new places left their mark on the NHL’s Thursday slate, with Scott Wedgewood backstopping the Stars to a tightly-contested win against the Hurricanes and Claude Giroux lifting the Panthers to victory in his team debut.
* David Pastrnak’s 12th career hat trick helped the Bruins edge the Lightning in a crucial Atlantic Division clash. Boston now sits within the top three of its grouping for the first time in 2021-22.
* Connor McDavid boosted his lead in the Art Ross Trophy race and joined elite company by recording his sixth consecutive 60-assist season.
TRADE ACQUISITIONS MAKE THEIR IMPACT
The Stars (36-24-3, 75 points) and Panthers (43-14-6, 92 points) each profited from their trade acquisitions, whom all made an impact in their respective debuts:
* Scott Wedgewood (44 saves) turned aside at least 40 shots in his third straight appearance – including one stop on an odd-man rush with 1:08 remaining in overtime – and established a franchise mark for most saves by a goaltender in their debut, besting Jon Casey (43 saves on March 28, 1984 w/ MNS).
* Wedgewood, with 45 and 40 saves in his previous two appearances with the Coyotes respectively, became the fourth netminder in the past 10 years to post three consecutive 40-save outings. The others: Anton Forsberg (3 GP from Feb. 22 – March 6 w/ OTT), Anton Khudobin (3 GP from Feb. 19-24, 2019 w/ DAL) and John Gibson (3 GP from Nov. 15-22, 2017 w/ ANA).
* Claude Giroux (0-2—2), Robert Hagg (0-1—1) and Ben Chiarot (0-1—1) all collected points in their Panthers debut to help Florida (43-14-6, 92 points) boost its lead atop the Eastern Conference. It took Giroux and Hagg 36 seconds to record their first assists with their new club, marking the third quickest start to a game a Panthers player has found the score sheet in his team debut, behind Gary Roberts (0:26 on Oct. 31, 2005) and Niklas Hagman (0:29 on Oct. 26, 2001).
PASTRNAK POTS THREE AS BRUINS CLIMB OUT OF WILD CARD SPOT
David Pastrnak (3-0—3) netted his 12th career hat trick to propel the Bruins (40-19-5, 85 points) to a crucial win over the Lightning (39-18-6, 84 points). Boston, with four games remaining against teams currently amid the playoff race in the Atlantic Division (TOR: 2 GP, FLA: 1 GP & TBL: 1 GP), moved into one of its cohort’s top three seeds for the first time this season.
* Pastrnak (25 years, 303 days), who already has the most hat tricks by a Bruins player at the age 25 or younger also leads all active players in the scenario. Only two other active skaters have reached double digits before turning 26: 25-year-old Connor McDavid (10) and Alex Ovechkin (10).
McDAVID LIFTS OILERS TO VICTORY WITH ANOTHER 60-ASSIST SEASON. . . Connor McDavid (0-2—2) factored on two third-period goals to boost his NHL-best totals to 35-60—95 and help the Oilers (36-24-5, 77 points) move within two points of the second-place Kings (35-22-9, 79 points) in the Pacific Division. The 2021-22 campaign marks McDavid’s sixth straight season with 60-plus assists.
* Leon Draisaitl (44-46—90 in 65 GP) also scored twice and joined his captain at the 90-point plateau. The duo became the first pair of teammates in more than 25 years to each record 90 points by their team’s 65th game of the season. The last time teammates accomplished the feat was in 1995-96 when Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic did so for Colorado (61 GP) while Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis did so for Pittsburgh (58 GP).
. . . WHILE OTHER WESTERN CONFERENCE CLUBS CONTINUE PLAYOFF PUSH The Wild (38-20-4, 80 points) and Golden Knights (35-28-4, 74 points) each skated to victories Thursday to collect crucial points in the Western Conference standings, where seven teams are separated by six points.
* Kirill Kaprizov (1-1—2) factored on two of Minnesota’s three goals, including an assist on Joel Eriksson Ek’s overtime winner, to help the Wild leapfrog the Blues (35-19-9, 79 points) for second place in the Central Division. Kaprizov’s goal marked the 60th of his career (116 GP) – only one active player required fewer games to reach the mark: Alex Ovechkin (95 GP).
* While head coach Peter DeBoer celebrated his 1,000th game behind an NHL bench, Jonathan Marchessault (0-3—3) collected an assist on three of Vegas’ six goals to help the Golden Knights keep pace with the Stars for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Thursday marked the third straight home game in which Vegas has scored five-plus goals, tied for the longest such stretch in franchise history (also 3 GP from Dec. 31, 2021 – Jan. 4, 2020).
GENDER EQUALITY MONTH: ALL CAPS ALL HER The Capitals’ ALL CAPS ALL HER platform provides access to hockey and elevates the game for women and girls in the Washington D.C. area, while recognizing and supporting female players, coaches, parents, advocates, students, and leaders in the community.
The platform encompasses four activation pillars: youth and adult hockey programming, business development and networking, coach and referee development, and families of hockey. Events, programs and content will provide various levels of entry into the sport for women and girls of all ages, including the recently announced Women in Hockey Night on March 28.
FRIDAY FEATURE: CLASH OF THE METROPOLITAN DIVISION The No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the Metropolitan will clash on a five-game Friday when the Penguins (39-16-10, 88 points) visit the Rangers (40-19-5, 85 points) at Madison Square Garden.
* Pittsburgh can reach the 40-win mark in a season in 66 games or fewer for the sixth time in franchise history and first since 2016-17 (64 GP). Captain Sidney Crosby leads the team in scoring with 23-43—66 (53 GP) despite being held out of the lineup a dozen contests in 2021-22. Crosby, who has finished as the Penguins leading scorer a franchise-leading 12 times in his career, can become the sixth player in NHL history to conclude a campaign atop his club in points in at least 13 seasons. The only players to do so are Wayne Gretzky (19), Gordie Howe (17), Anze Kopitar (13), Jaromir Jagr (13) and Mats Sundin (13).
* Andrew Copp and Jacob Trouba are set to play in their second game together in a Rangers uniform after being reunited at the trade deadline. The pair first played on the same team at age 10 on the Compuware peewee youth hockey team. Copp and Trouba’s timeline as teammates include skating together on the U.S. National Team Development Program and becoming freshmen at the University of Michigan before being drafted by the Jets and playing in Winnipeg from 2014-15 to 2018-19.
