Wild skate past Stanley Cup champion Panthers as Jake Middleton has three assists

SUNRISE, Fla. – Not even the defending Stanley Cup champions could overcome the Wild’s historic strategy.

The Wild scored first again, extended their lead and never looked back en route to a 5-1 rout of the Panthers on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena and their most impressive performance amid this rare run.

They’re only the second team ever to not trail in regulation through its first six games, joining the 1969-70 Bruins, who went 457 minutes, 21 seconds before falling behind; the Wild are up to 360 minutes during a six-game point streak (4-0-2) that’s their longest to open a season since 2008-09.

“We’re building our game in the right direction,” Marco Rossi said. “Just very smart, intelligent hockey so far.”

Mats Zuccarello buried his team-leading fourth goal, Kirill Kaprizov had two slick setups, and Jake Middleton finished with a game-high three points (all assists).

In net, Filip Gustavsson continued his own roll, stopping 24 shots to improve to 4-0-1. Not only is Gustavsson tied for the most victories in the NHL, but he’s first in save percentage (.952) and second in goals-against average (1.40).

The Wild had five different goal scorers, and eight players picked up a least a point while four netted two in an opportunistic display by the offense.

Despite a season-low 22 shots, this was the most authoritative the Wild have looked on the attack.

Rossi kept the trend of the Wild capitalizing first alive 11:40 into the first period when he tipped in a Kaprizov shot while his back was to the net. He’s on a three-game goal streak and five-game point streak, both of which are career highs.

Just 22 seconds later, Matt Boldy eluded Niko Mikkola on a 2-on-1 rush to get to the left corner, where he heaved the puck to the middle for a Marcus Johansson one-timer.

Then, 2:40 into the second, Boldy deflected in a Zuccarello shot on the power play. In the process, Zuccarello became the fastest player in Wild history to reach 200 assists, getting there in 70 fewer games than Mikko Koivu’s 400.

“I know Mats isn’t really known for his wicked wrist shot,” Boldy said, “so he’s pretty good at kind of laying them in there to a really good spot. It’s just lucky it hit my stick.”

Joel Eriksson Ek drew the penalty, getting hauled down in front of the net while wearing his normal helmet. Eriksson Ek ditched the full-face shield he wore last Saturday at Columbus in his return from a broken nose.

That was the power play’s first of only two chances, a stellar showing by the Wild’s special teams since they didn’t commit a penalty to become the first team in the NHL to have a penalty-free game this season.

“When your penalty discipline is there, you set your team up and you set the game up where you’re going to not give the five best players on the other team opportunities to be able to put you under duress,” coach John Hynes said.

Later in the second period, at 11:19, the Panthers finally eluded Gustavsson on a crease-crashing redirect by Sam Bennett.

But the Wild were unfazed.

Case in point: Zuccarello responded 2:39 after Bennett’s goal, wiring in an empty-net shot after Kaprizov pulled goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky out of position by going for a wrap-around before handing off to Zuccarello.

“I know Zuccy was alone there,” said Kaprizov, who is tied for second in the league with four multipoint efforts and has at least a point in five of the Wild’s six games.

Another 2:07 after that, Eriksson Ek scooped up an outlet pass from Middleton off the rush and flung the puck past Bobrovsky’s glove.

“If they get one, usually they get a couple more,” Zuccarello said of the Panthers. “So, it was good to get the momentum back.”

This finish gave the Wild goals on back-to-back shots, but they were economical all game: They went 1-for-3, 2-for-4, 3-for-7, 4-for-13 and 5-for-14 — a conversion rate that would give them an MLB batting title.

“Although we didn’t have a ton of shots,” Hynes said, “I thought that the opportunities we had are how you need to get them, and we were able to capitalize on them.”

Bobrovsky was replaced after the second, exiting with 11 saves. Spencer Knight had six stops in relief.

Florida was missing captain Aleksander Barkov, who was injured in the second game of the season, but the Wild also aren’t at full strength.

Ryan Hartman remained out with an upper-body injury, and captain Jared Spurgeon is still in Minnesota, where he has resumed skating as he deals with a lower-body injury related to the back and hip surgeries he underwent earlier this year. Hynes is still hoping Spurgeon rejoins the team on this five-game road trip, which continues Thursday at Tampa Bay.

In the meantime, the Wild are persevering through the adversity: The 360 minutes they’ve gone without trailing in regulation is the third-longest streak at any point in Wild history, behind stretches in 2014-15 (414:32) and 2015-16 (383:44).

“It’s going to be ups and downs during the season,” Zuccarello said, “but it’s always good to start well and get some confidence and momentum as a team.”