Amid the exciting off-ice news of the trade for star defenseman Quinn Hughes, the Minnesota Wild found some on-ice good news, as well, on Saturday.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored in the final seconds to lift Minnesota to a 3-2 win, thwarting an Ottawa Senators’ comeback. It was the third consecutive victory for the Wild, who led by two goals late in the second period only to see their guests tie things up.
Taking a cross-ice pass from Marcus Johansson, Eriksson Ek blasted a long-range shot behind Ottawa goalie Leevi Merilainen with 23.1 seconds on the clock. The Senators challenged the play for a possible high stick. But after a lengthy review, the goal stood.
The victory came less than 24 hours after the Wild shocked the hockey world with trade for Hughes, who arrives on Sunday.
“It was a weird day. Injures and the trade and just an early game,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said. “I was an interesting day, but gosh, we battled, and that was a hard, hard fought win.”
In addition to the three players sent to Vancouver for Hughes, the Wild were missing veteran defenseman Jonas Brodin due to an upper body injury.
Jesper Wallstedt’s hot run in the crease continued as the rookie goaltender had 34 saves, improving to 9-1-2 as Minnesota’s goalie of record this season. Tyler Pitlick and Ryan Hartman had second-period goals for the Wild, who are now 10-3-4 at home this season.
Minnesota had the only power play of the scoreless first period but did not muster a shot during the 2-minute advantage. It was the continuation of a problematic trend for the Wild, who had scored just once in their previous 21 power plays.
The Wild finally broke the deadlock a few minutes into the middle frame when Pitlick perfectly redirected a Jared Spurgeon shot between the knees of Merilainen. For Pitlick — who cut his hockey teeth at Centennial High School and at Minnesota State Mankato — it was his first goal as a member of the hometown Wild, and his first NHL goal in more than two years.
“Pitter’s come in and he works hard every night and he plays a strong role,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I think it’s nice when those guys can get rewarded because they do play a thankless role on a team.”
The Minnesota power-play unit, at long last, provided some good news later in the second when Hartman tipped in a Johansson shot to double the Minnesota lead.
Then, the home team ran into penalty trouble when David Jiricek and Eriksson Ek were sent to the box 24 seconds apart, giving Ottawa 1:36 of 5-on-3 power play. The Wild killed the first penalty only to see Senators center Tim Stutzle score on a rebound in the final half-minute of the second.
As the horn blew to end the period, Hartman and Ottawa’s Ridly Greig dropped their gloves and exchanged punches, with each getting a 5-minute penalty for fighting. It was the carry-over from 10 months ago, when Hartman was ejected and suspended for 10 games for driving Stutzle’s head into the ice on a faceoff during a Feb. 1 game in Ottawa.
Wild center Danila Yurov was thwarted on a breakaway early in the third, which would have put Minnesota back up by two. Instead, after a questionable slashing call that drew a rain of boos sent Kirill Kaprizov to the box, Ottawa forged a tie on its second power-play goal.
On the game-winner, Eriksson Ek said he and Johansson locked eyes across the ice, so he had a good idea the pass was coming.
“Jojo, that vision he has, I kind of knew he was gonna pass it,” Eriksson Ek said.
Merilainen finished with 22 saves for the Senators, who will host the Wild on April 4.
Minnesota’s homestand rolls on Sunday evening when it hosts the Boston Bruins for the only time this season, with Hughes expected to be in the lineup. The game faces off at 5 p.m. at Grand Casino Arena.
“He’s one of the best players in this league,” Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov said of Hughes, who was flying in from New Jersey during the Saturday afternoon game. “He obviously has great offense with how he’s skating and his IQ and how he reads the game.”
On Saturday the Grand Casino Arena team store was already selling Wild jerseys with number 43 and Hughes’ name on the back, after reserve forward Hunter Haight switched from 43 — which he had worn for two games early in the season — to 37.
Briefly
With the Wild roster in some flux, having shipped three regulars to Vancouver on Friday and with defenseman Jonas Brodin absent due to an injury, the Ottawa game marked the Minnesota debuts of winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel and defenseman Matt Kiersted. Both were signed as free agents in the offseason. Aube-Kubel has played more than 300 NHL games, most recently with the Sabres and Rangers last season. Kiersted, originally from Elk River, played college hockey at North Dakota and skated in two games for the Florida Panthers last season.
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