Wild's Marco Rossi scores first NHL goal, for real this time

TORONTO — Marco Rossi was hoping for a faceoff.

He'd just scored his first NHL goal for a second time and because his initial try was overturned, he didn't want his latest offering to get nixed, too, this time for a high stick since he batted a Marcus Foligno rebound behind Toronto goalie Ilya Samsonov in the second period.

"Please just drop the puck and keep going," Rossi said.

That's exactly what happened.

Rossi got to keep his milestone albeit in a rough showing by the Wild, who were crushed 7-4 by the Maple Leafs on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena despite the lift Rossi's goal provided. His finish put the Wild behind only 4-3 with half a game to go, but a three-goal third period by Toronto after a costly Wild penalty sealed the loss.

"Just want to try to be at the net front, but the guy was pushing me off," said Rossi, who is the ninth Austrian-born player to score in an NHL regular-season game. "[Foligno] shot it, and I was just trying to be ready and of course it was a lucky bounce. But it feels good to score."

That Foligno picked up the assist was fitting: he was the player offside on Rossi's previous goal that was called back on a Panthers challenge in the Wild's season-opening 2-0 win on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center, a ruling that continued a bizarre trend for the Wild.

Earlier this year, Adam Beckman's first goal was wiped away by a challenge (also for offside).

And in 2021, Brandon Duhaime had to redo the milestone after his tally was negated due to goaltender interference.

"He'll get another one," Duhaime said Saturday morning when asked if he could sympathize with Rossi.

Duhaime was right.

"I'm happy for him," Foligno said. "A guy like that, he may have been our best forward tonight. He was awesome. He's a good kid. I'm so happy that he's finding his way now."

Rossi was in this same spot a year ago.

An offensive guru in juniors drafted ninth overall in 2020, the center made the Wild out of training camp and was in the lineup to start the season. But he wasn't producing and was eventually demoted to a healthy scratch before the Wild sent him to the minors.

After contributing at almost a point-per-game pace with Iowa in the American Hockey League and training over the summer in the Twin Cities, Rossi returned to the Wild stronger (he added 10-15 pounds of muscle). He also felt comfortable, and that's been clear in his play.

Even though the first goal didn't count, that's two straight games now he's put the puck in the back of the net.

Rossi also came close to adding another in the third period against the Leafs, the 22-year-old battling in front of the net. Overall, Rossi's five shots tied with Matt Boldy for the most on the Wild.

"Just everything he's doing right now looks like the player he's meant to be," Foligno said.