ELMONT, N.Y. — The Rangers had no one between them and Wild goalie Cam Talbot.
Marcus Foligno's hustle play keeps Wild in striking distance
He crashes into boards while spoiling two-man Rangers breakaway, saving a goal but forcing him to sit out vs. Islanders.
January 31, 2022 at 12:48AM
Defensemen Dmitry Kulikov and Jordie Benn fell to the ice after getting tied up, and two Rangers skated into Wild territory alone. But the shot the duo generated didn't go uncontested.
That's because a sprawling Marcus Foligno dove to jab a stick at Kevin Rooney's attempt, catching a piece of the puck before it dribbled into Talbot.
"That was absolutely a key point in the game," coach Dean Evason said.
After interfering with the shot, Foligno slammed into the end boards and although the winger finished that game on Friday night at Madison Square Garden, he was sidelined for the next on Sunday vs. the Islanders because of an upper-body injury. He's considered day to day.
"You got a big guy named Moose crashing into the boards," Evason said. "It didn't look good."
This injury, however, wasn't the only repercussion from the play.
Had the Rangers capitalized, the Wild would have trailed 3-0. Instead, the Wild rallied to win 3-2 — a league-high fifth time the team has overcome a multi-goal deficit to win. That was also the 11th instance of the Wild prevailing after giving up the game's first goal, with those 11 victories tied for the second-most in the NHL.
"A lot of the times nothing really needs to be said," defenseman Alex Goligoski said. "If we're in that situation, guys know that if we get down a couple, we can come back because we have done it before. The group doesn't get down or anything. It's just like, 'OK. Let's dig in here,' and we go back to work. It's worked out for us."
In this case, the comeback didn't start until the second period, with the Wild scoring twice, and the team didn't seize the lead until the third. But that's the type of scenario the Wild is targeting, center Ryan Hartman said.
"We have the confidence where all we're trying to do is make sure it's close by the third period," Hartman said. "We're confident enough that we know that if things aren't going right at the time that we can turn it on. Obviously, you don't want to rely on having to come back like that. But it's nice to have it in your back pocket."
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Lineup shuffle
With Foligno out Sunday, the Wild assigned winger Brandon Duhaime to Foligno's spot alongside winger Jordan Greenway and center Joel Eriksson Ek and recalled forward Kyle Rau from the taxi squad to fill Duhaime's vacancy on the fourth line.
Kaapo Kahkonen started in net.
Familiar faces
Kirill Kaprizov's parents were in attendance Sunday night to see their son and the Wild square off against the Islanders.
They also took in Friday's game at Madison Square Garden, the first time they'd watched Kaprizov play in the NHL in person, and they're also planning to be in Las Vegas for the All-Star Game next weekend, when the winger will make his first career appearance.
Etc.
• The Wild's weekend trip to New York included a nor'easter that dumped 17 inches of snow on Elmont, where the Islanders' new UBS Arena is located. A Saturday matinee between the Islanders and Kraken was postponed by the NHL after the governor of New York issued a weather-related state of emergency.
• Assistant Bob Woods (COVID-19 protocols) wasn't behind the bench Sunday.
The Wild head toward a big game against Dallas with one of the NHL’s best records but also with health concerns after Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello exited injured.
