Mats Zuccarello scored two goals, including an empty netter, and Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 on Saturday night in Raleigh, N.C.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy, who also had a pair of assists, scored for the Wild, while Marco Rossi logged a career-high four assists, bringing his season total to 22. Zuccarello added an assist to his night.
The shutout was Gustavsson’s third of the season and the ninth of his career.
Pyotr Kochetkov made 23 saves for the Hurricanes, who lost for the fourth time in their last six games.
The Wild are 15-3-3 with a league-high 33 points on the road. It was only the fifth loss in 19 home games for the Hurricanes, who began a stretch of five home games in a six-game span.
It was also the third time this season that Carolina was shut out, The Hurricanes managed only four shots on goal in the third period and their 20 total shots tied for their third fewest of the season.
The Wild, despite ranking 30th in the league penalty killing, escaped unscathed from Carolina’s four-minute man advantage in the first period.
The Hurricanes finished 0-for-4 with three total shots on the power play. The Wild were 1-for-3.
Zuccarello scored his ninth goal of the season with 6:57 to play in the first period to open the scoring. His other goal came with 2:46 to play to cap the scoring. Those tallies give him 11 goals in 40 career games vs. the Hurricanes.
Eriksson Ek added to the Wild’s lead with a tip-in on a power play with 8:30 to play in the second period.
Carolina had a would-be goal wiped away by an offside call in the second period, keeping the score at 2-0. The outcome of that ruling made the Wild 5-for-5 this season on coach’s challenges.
–Field Level Media
