NEW YORK — On Sunday night, Minnesota Wild rookie forward Danila Yurov dined with his agent, who also represents a few of the other Russians of note in the NHL. At some point, Yurov said he would get his first NHL goal versus fellow countryman Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers.
Roughly 24 hours later, Yurov made good on that promise, shoveling a loose puck over the goal line for the eventual game-winner as the Wild beat the Rangers 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.
Known among his teammates for having a perpetual smile, Yurov, 21, beamed in the postgame locker room, describing the play and the euphoria of scoring his first goal on one of the biggest stages in hockey.
Then the smile faded, and he got serious, his voice almost cracking at one point as he told reporters, in his still-improving English, that the feat made him think of his parents, his sister, his girlfriend and all of the support he has gotten on his journey to the NHL.
“It’s good for him. I know it’s a pretty good feeling when you score your first goal,” said Wild teammate Kirill Kaprizov, who sealed the win with a late empty-net goal. “We’re happy for him, and it was a big goal for us.”
Kaprizov was a plug-and-play star when he got to the NHL, and some Wild fans likely expected a similar immediate impact from Yurov, a first round pick in 2022. He signed with the Wild in May and had a good training camp, but also showed some growing pains as he adjusted to the style and pace of the NHL
He was a healthy scratch in the Wild’s season-opening win at St. Louis, but he has been a regular since then.
“He’s just a player that continues to get experience and continues to grow his game,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “He’s a smart player, he’s a good player. It’s just (about) getting more and more comfortable and more experience, and it was great to see him get his first goal tonight.”
Teammates said they are seeing Yurov emerge from his shell a little bit off the ice as he learns the language and the ways of life in North America. Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson, who came over from Sweden, noted that sharing what you’re feeling when you don’t speak English well can be a challenge for newcomers to NHL hockey.
“It’s very hard to get personal and express what you think, how you feel and everything around you,” Gustavsson said. “It feels like he’s trying a lot to speak English to us guys, and it gets easier to be around him and make him part of the group, too.”
Scoring goals, of course, is understood in any language.
Briefly
— Ahead of the Wild’s lone regular-season visit to New Jersey on Wednesday, they placed defenseman Zach Bogosian on injured reserve with a lower body ailment and recalled center Hunter Haight from Iowa. Haight has played in two NHL games this season. His call-up was likely intended to give the Wild some forward depth with center Marco Rossi missing time this week.
— Wild prospect Adam Benak was named player of the week in the Ontario Hockey League after an offensive outburst for the Brantford Bulldogs, six total points in a pair of wins. Benak, 18, was picked in the fourth round by the Wild in last summer’s NHL draft. He is the OHL’s leading scorer with 19 points in his first eight games.
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