Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes would probably like to expound on how resilient his club is and how it battles back from a goal or two down.
Problem is, he can’t so far.
Hynes and the Wild will complete the two-game Florida portion of their seven-game road trip with a chance to equal NHL history Thursday night in their matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
On Tuesday, Minnesota, which has won four of six games, became just the second team in NHL history to not trail in regulation through its first six contests. The 1969-1970 Boston Bruins opened by not falling behind in their first seven.
In South Florida, Minnesota was better than the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers from the puck drop, scoring two goals in the first period and easing to a third straight win, 5-1.
Mats Zuccarello, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek produced a goal and an assist apiece as the Central Division squad improved to 3-0-1 on the trip.
“I thought we had some strong maturity in our game,” said Hynes, whose team is 3-0-0 against the Eastern Conference.
“Coming into this building, the competitive level is a game where you have to win the hard areas — wall plays, net fronts. You have to manage the puck really well because they are such a strong forecheck team.”
Flashy forward Kirill Kaprizov, who notched two assists in the victory, said the six-game point streak is all about playing a heady game.
“This is a nice start for the team,” said Kaprizov, who has a team-best 10 points (two goals, eight assists). “We have tried to not take penalties, play clean, and have good saves. Goalie (Filip Gustavsson, 24 saves Tuesday) did that. We played smart.”
Saddled with two straight setbacks, the Tampa Bay Lightning stared down adversity for the first time in the new campaign on Tuesday and bounced back explosively with an 8-5 win at the New Jersey Devils.
The Lightning return home for a three-game homestand that concludes a stretch of six games in 10 days.
After dropping a 5-4 decision at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, the Lightning remained in
Canada to face the Atlantic Division rival Toronto Maple Leafs, who routed the visitors 5-2 and chased goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for the first time this season.
However, in New Jersey, the Lightning showed the Devils the kind of firepower expected from a Jon Cooper-coached team.
Tampa Bay tallied five times in the second period, highlighted by Brandon Hagel’s natural hat trick. Anthony Cirelli had four assists in the eight-goal outburst as the Lightning snapped their two-game skid.
“I thought coming into this game obviously we needed a better effort,” Cirelli said. “A lot of the game (in Toronto) we weren’t happy with. The main focus was for us to come out with a great start and go back to playing our system and game.”
The Lightning claimed both meetings last season, 4-1 in Saint Paul, Minn., and 7-3 on home ice.
However, the franchise is only 13-20-1 against Minnesota all time.
–Field Level Media
