TEMPE, ARIZ. – Marc-Andre Fleury has made it clear he wants to keep playing for the Wild, and that decision might help keep the team’s fading playoff hopes alive.
Wild regroup vs. Coyotes to pick up precious points
After allowing the fastest two goals in franchise history, Zach Bogosian and Joel Eriksson Ek scored to ignite a Wild rally before Brock Faber and Connor Dewar applied the finishing touches.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 8, 2024 at 3:10PM
The Wild needed 23 saves by Fleury and a third-period comeback to defeat the struggling Coyotes 5-2 on Thursday at Mullett Arena and earn a two-point lift up the standings to sit seven back of a berth.
“He’s playing really well, and it’s nice that he wants to be here and be part of the team,” coach John Hynes said. “You can see the way he’s battling and playing. He’s playing at a high level.
“It’s good for us here coming down the stretch.”
After the Wild surrendered the lead on the fastest two goals given up in team history, Zach Bogosian scored less than a minute later before Joel Eriksson Ek polished off a Wild rally that also included empty-netters 45 seconds apart from Brock Faber and Connor Dewar.
“I thought Flower kept us in it, and obviously made a lot of big saves,” Bogosian said. “So, we should probably tip the cap to him for keeping us in that one.”
Trailing 1-0, Clayton Keller spoiled Fleury’s shutout bid just 1 minute, 21 seconds into the third on an Arizona power play (1-for-3).
On the next shift, Michael Carcone cruised into Wild territory and wired a puck off the post and behind Fleury to give the Coyotes a pair of goals in only seven seconds; that’s one second faster than the Predators’ two-goal, eight-second tear against the Wild last Thursday that set a new franchise record (for only a week).
“Geez, that’s quick,” Fleury said. “Obviously not what I want, what the team wants. But I like that nobody panicked. Just deal with it, and I thought we picked up our play after that and got a couple big goals.”
Only 32 seconds later, the Wild reset when Bogosian pinched to bury a Ryan Hartman pass. Arizona challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal counted.
“We want to have a response, so that was good timing,” Bogosian said.
Then at 7:16, Eriksson Ek deposited a Coyotes turnover collected by Mats Zuccarello behind goalie Karel Vejmelka (23 saves) to reclaim control for the Wild. Faber drained an empty-net goal at 18:48 before Dewar did the same with 27 seconds left.
“I liked how we didn’t overthink it and just kept playing,” Fleury said.
Hartman finished with two assists, while Zuccarello factored in the Wild’s first three goals for a three-point return to action after sitting out the previous game due to personal reasons.
“Zucc was in it to win it,” Hynes said.
As for Fleury, this performance continued his second-half steadiness.
Since Jan. 13, Fleury is 6-2 with a 2.16 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in 10 appearances, which included replacing Filip Gustavsson in a loss and exiting a game early due to injury. Only once in his past eight starts has Fleury been tagged for more than two goals.
“Feeling like I can help a bit,” Fleury said. “I can’t say I’ve changed much. Just keep battling, keep talking to the goalie coach. Nothing special.”
Before puck drop, the Wild shook up the lineup in front of their net by trading Brandon Duhaime to division rival Colorado, which will play host to the Wild on Friday when this two-game road trip concludes.
Jake Middleton was missing because of an upper-body injury that Hynes said he doesn’t believe is serious.
A veteran netminder with a Hall-of-Fame résumé that includes three Stanley Cups and a Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie, Fleury could be an upgrade to a contender looking to add experience to its crease.
But Fleury said in the lead-up to Friday’s NHL trade deadline that he couldn’t see himself asking for a trade and that he wouldn’t want to go elsewhere.
Considering how he’s been playing, that’s good news for the Wild as they try to claw back into the Western Conference wild-card race.
“We’re happy to have him,” Zuccarello said.
Fleury was perfect through two periods against Arizona, and fans chanted his name after he stopped an 18th shot late in the second to preserve a 1-0 advantage for the Wild.
“A lot of Wild fans here and I could hear them cheer,” Fleury said. “That was pretty cool.”
After they had a goal disallowed earlier in the period because the puck went into the Coyotes net off Matt Boldy’s hand, the Wild scored for good at 1:51 when Kirill Kaprizov jammed in the puck on the power play (1-for-2) for his team-leading 30th goal and fourth in two games.
Kaprizov is only the third Wild player with three consecutive 30-goal seasons; Marian Gaborik and Brian Rolston are the others.
The Wild had another shot from Jake Lucchini sail in at 6:59, but Arizona also challenged that goal and video review determined Luchhini was off-side before he scored.
But when the Wild needed their goals to stick the most in the third period, they did. After that, Fleury was airtight the rest of the way.
“Obviously, we love Flower, and he’s played awesome for us every time he’s in the net,” Bogosian said. “Emotional time of the year. You never want to see anyone leave. Even Dew, he’s a great person, great teammate. Colorado got a good one. But it’s also part of the business.
“You build relationships with guys, and obviously I’ve only been here for a short period of time, and the guys in this room care about each other.”
Alex Ovechkin has a broken left fibula and is expected to be out four to six weeks, an injury that pauses the Washington Capitals superstar captain’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record.
