PHILADELPHIA – The Wild’s season-opening point streak is over.
Minnesota Wild’s win streak ends with 7-5 loss in Philadelphia
The Wild looked primed for a late comeback, but Rasmus Ristolainen and an empty-net goal broke the tie.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 26, 2024 at 7:47PM
They suffered their first regulation loss 7-5 to the Flyers on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center to snap their four-game win streak.
Philadelphia’s Rasmus Ristolainen delivered the tiebreaker with 2 minutes, 24 seconds to go in the third period before Sean Couturier completed a hat trick into an empty net with 1 minute left to hold off the Wild, who look primed for a comeback after a point shot from Jake Middleton squeaked through goalie Samuel Ersson with 6:33 to go to set up a 5-5 photo finish.
Marcus Foligno scored twice, Kirill Kaprizov had three assists for a career-high five straight games with multiple points, and Filip Gustavsson had just 16 saves as the Wild surrendered a season-low 23 shots.
But the Flyers didn’t waste most of their early looks.
After Gustavsson denied Ristolainen on Philadelphia’s first shot, Coututier buried the rebound 1:18 into the first period.
Then on the Flyers next shot, at 3:51, former Wild defenseman and Eden Prairie’s Nick Seeler connected from the slot.
Philadelphia went the next 21:30 without testing Gustavsson, and their first credited shot to end that drought was a harmless throw from the neutral zone that Gustavsson deflected into the netting.
Meanwhile, the Wild rattled off six shots after the Flyers’ two goals that were stopped by Ersson before tacking on another eight in the second.
Finally, on Try No. 16, they capitalized when Brock Faber tipped in Kaprizov’s shot at 14:54.
Just 33 seconds later, Foligno flung in his first goal on only his second shot of the season as he fell to the ice before jumping into the boards in celebration.
With 1:44 to go in the second, Philadelphia reset during a delayed Wild penalty, Matvei Michkov scoring during a 6-on-5 setup.
But seconds later, the Flyers were whistled for too many men, and the Wild power play took advantage: Kaprizov sent a loose puck across the crease to Joel Eriksson Ek for the wide-open redirect at 19:56.
The power play finished 1-for-4.
Just 2:18 into the third period, the Wild finally moved ahead of Philadelphia on a tip by Foligno off a Zach Bogosian shot.
But their lead didn’t last long; by 4:55, both teams were tied again after Travis Konecny converted on a Philadelphia power play (1-for-2). Then at 8:26, Couturier lifted in his second goal at the post.
Ersson totaled 21 saves for the Flyers, who ended the Wild’s point streak at seven games – one game shy of the franchise record. The Wild are the second-to-last team to lose in regulation this season; the Jets are still undefeated.
The Wild looked primed for a late comeback, but Rasmus Ristolainen and an empty-net goal broke the tie.
