Long-time Minnesota Duluth coach Mike Sertich, who died in the summer of 2024, used to say that in his three seasons of college hockey for the Bulldogs, he only scored one goal.
“And I still have the shin pad I scored it with,” he would joke.
In a similar vein, Wild forward Justin Brazeau was asked on Saturday afternoon if he would save his right skate, which was the catalyst for his first goal since joining Minnesota earlier this month.
For the eventual game-winner in the Wild’s 4-1 victory on Saturday, Brazeau took his hulking 6-foot-6 frame right to the top of the Sabres’ crease where a puck from teammate Brendan Gaunce glanced off the newcomer’s skate and over the goal line. After the Buffalo coaches took a thorough look at the replay, they did not challenge, as it was not intentionally kicked in.
“Yeah, it definitely wasn’t the prettiest, but I’m happy it went in,” Brazeau said of his 11th goal this season. He scored 10 with the Boston Bruins, before Minnesota traded for him on March 6. The Bruins were in Carolina at the time, while the Wild were in Vancouver, meaning Brazeau had to traverse the continent in roughly 20 hours to join his new team. On Saturday he got his first point in eight games with the Wild, playing right wing on their fourth line.
“It was definitely a crazy start, but it was obviously really nice to play the last whatever, five, six, seven games here at home and kind of be able to get situated and get a spot to live and everything like that,” he said. “So, it’s been really good. Yeah, it’s been a bit of a crazy turnaround, but sometimes just hopping right into it’s the best way.”
The Wild gave up forwards Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko to get Brazeau, who has size and a net-front presence that could prove to be even more valuable come playoff time.
“I think it’d be a good confidence boost to him. I think any type of player comes into a new team, you wanna be able to contribute. And I think he’s gotten better and better, and more comfortable, and you start to see, at least from my standpoint, I start to see what he brings,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “He’s a big body, he’s got good hands. I think he has poise with the puck. He knows how to defend, he’s a responsible player and he’s good in and around the net. And we need him to be able to chip in like that throughout the lineup and it was nice for him to get his first one tonight with us.”
It was the third career game-winning goal for Brazeau, who is 27 and made his NHL debut last season, playing 19 games with the Bruins and scoring five goals. Like his new teammates in Minnesota, the end to his scoring drought seems to be coming at the best time.
“Yeah, it’s obviously huge. I mean, any time you’re in that drought it can get a little frustrating. Grip your stick too much or, you know, try to force it a little bit,” he said. “But I think we did a really good job of just kind of sticking with it knowing that it was coming. Once the seal’s off, just go from there.”
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