Minnesota Wild extend winning streak to six games with 4-1 victory over Anaheim

The Wild's three third-period goals Wednesday extended their December winning streak to six games with a 4-1 victory at Anaheim.

Left wing Matt Boldy provided the go-ahead goal early in the third and Joel Eriksson Ek's power-play deflection four minutes later gave the Wild a two a two-goal cushion.

Ryan Hartman scored an empty-net goal late against a Ducks team that played on the second night of back-to-back games.

Wild veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury kept his team within a goal early in the game and kept Anaheim away in the third period. He stopped 21 of 22 shots he faced.

"We talked about it being a 60-minute game," Wild coach Dean Evason told reporters afterward. "The other night we didn't play in the third period. Tonight we played in the third period, but we forgot to play in the second period. I guess we're getting closer to 60 minutes."

The Wild now have allowed six goals in the past six games and are 9-2-0 in December.

That's thanks to a winning streak that started with a shutout at Vancouver on Dec. 10 and included all of a four-game homestand that ended Sunday against Ottawa.

"Fun," Evason said. "Every coach preaches defense and we certainly have. We gave up a lot of goals early in the season and our group has made a commitment to keep it out of the net."

After the Ducks' Mason McTavish and Wild fourth-line center Connor Dewar exchanged second-period goals, Boldy gave his team its first lead all night 4:46 into the third period.

He knocked down a puck along the glass on the right boards, settled it down and snapped a shot from high in the right circle. It was Boldy's 12th goal this season. He had two assists on Wednesday, too.

Eriksson Ek scored his 11th of the season by deflecting defenseman Callen Addison's shot from inside the blue line past Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal at 8:54 in the third.

"We have confidence in our team and our skill and ability to close out games, especially now," Addison told Bally Sports North broadcast after the game. "We have lots of confidence. When you start gripping your stick, bad things happen. I think we're really calming the bench down, calming everyone down and just completing the game."

Then he tied it 1-1 late in the second period when he carried the puck from near the net all the way back out along the boards to near the blue line before he flung a shot through traffic that eluded Dostal.

Dewar and linemate Mason Shaw had a conversation on the bench not long before.

"We were talking, just get more pucks on the net," Dewar said during a second-period TV intermission interview. "Just felt we could create something."

The Wild dominated Wednesday's first 15 minutes and kept Anaheim from controlling the puck in its offensive zone fewer than 30 seconds in the entire first period.

Yet it was the Ducks who scored first early in the second period on a McTavish breakaway, unassisted goal. It came after Wild star Kirill Kaprizov turned the puck over inside the Ducks blue line while both teams were playing 4-on-4 hockey.

Fleury kept his team within a goal when he stopped not one, but two prime Anaheim scoring chances.

On the second one, Fleury turned away Ducks center Sam Carrick on a shorthanded rush, stopping him just after McTavish beat Fleury through the legs.

Fleury played Wednesday even though Filip Gustavsson is 2-0-0 with a 2.40 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in two starts this season against Anaheim.

Gustavsson's active six-game winning streak is the longest of his career and tied for the second-longest streak in the league this season.

"Lots has been made of Flower and how old [38] he is," Evason told reporters Wednesday morning. "We talked about this a while ago. He's in tremendous shape. We're not doing this [playing Gustavsson more often] to rest Flower. We're doing it because Gus belongs in the net. ... When one gets the nod, the other is supporting.

Eriksson Ek chatted with his little brother OIle on the ice before the game. They didn't get a chance to spend any time together the night before because the Ducks played the Kings up the freeway in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

Olle Eriksson Ek is the Ducks' minor-league goaltender who has been called up from San Diego because two of the team's top goalkeepers have been injured.

"Usually the youngest one has to play goalie," Joel told reporters after Wednesday's skate. "I think that's how it ended up. Someone to play around with every day. Growing up together and playing all these games has been awesome. We had our fights for sure. Anybody who had a younger or older brother had them growing up. We just had fun together. It's just fun to see him."