Recent tear puts Wild's Kevin Fiala on a pace for a 20-goal season

NEW YORK — Kevin Fiala used to go weeks in between goals but not anymore.

"Just trying to do my best and not think too much," he said.

After scoring infrequently early in the season, Fiala has turned into a consistent contributor on the Wild — a tear that has set the winger up for yet another potential 20-goal campaign.

"Of course, it's frustrating when it's not going your way," Fiala said. "But you have to find a way just to stay with it."

Through the middle of December, Fiala had just four goals.

A season-long 10-game drought separated Nos. 1 and 2, and he went a jaw-dropping 46 shot attempts between his third and fourth tallies — a stretch that highlighted Fiala's lack of puck luck. He ranks first in the NHL in missed shots that have hit the crossbar with four, and Fiala's had another four that have slammed into the post. Only Boston's David Pastrnak (nine) has had more shots crash into the pipes.

"I don't think I have done so much different lately," Fiala said. "I had so many posts in the beginning and if they were going in, it would look differently from the outside. Now, they're going in so it's awesome."

The switch flipped Dec. 20 at Dallas; that's when Fiala scored twice and began a 10-game point streak that is tied with teammate Mats Zuccarello for the longest active run in the NHL. Fiala has eight goals during the streak, the longest of his career, including a second-period goal Friday night. Zuccarello also scored in the second period to extend his streak.

Before his 10-game point streak, Fiala was on pace for 11 goals. Now, a third straight season in which he's recorded at least 20 is within range during a contract year for the 25-year-old.

Signed to a one-year, $5.1 million deal last offseason, Fiala is set to become a restricted free agent again and he said recently he's been able to block out that looming situation. He expects a resolution after the season.

"You have so many thoughts and the season's been so weird with all the stoppage and the COVID, so it's long when you're not playing and you have more time to think about everything what's going on," Fiala said. "But I feel I've done a good job, especially now lately, just focus on hockey and just focus on having fun with the team."

Two Wild players reached significant benchmarks on Friday, with defenseman Matt Dumba suiting up for his 500th career game and center Joel Eriksson Ek skating in his 300th.

Dumba became the fifth defenseman and ninth player in Wild history to play 500 games.

"It's pretty cool," Dumba said. "Hopefully I have 500 more in me."

His milestone appearance coincided with a reunion with his longtime defensive partner Jonas Brodin, who returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury.

While Brodin was out, a stretch that also included captain Jared Spurgeon (injury) and Alex Goligoski (COVID list) missing time on the blue line, the Wild went 5-0-1.

"It's impressed me," Dumba said, "but it hasn't surprised me just because we have a good solid 'D' core. There's so much depth. I think we've all done a good job of stepping up and filling in when guys have been out. It's inevitable that injuries are going to happen, but I think we've done a good job of it so far."

The Rangers honored former goaltender Henrik Lundqvist before the game, retiring his No. 30 to the rafters inside Madison Square Garden.

Lundqvist, the winningest European-born goalie in NHL history who holds more than 50 Rangers records after playing 15 seasons for the team, became just the third goalie and 11th player overall to have his number retired by the organization.

Other Rangers greats, including Adam Graves, Brian Leetch, Mark Messier and Mike Richter, were on hand for the ceremony, and among the gifts Lundqvist was presented with was a hand-painted electric guitar and pucks commemorating his 74 career shutouts.

Zuccarello, a former teammate of Lundqvist's who was playing just his second game at Madison Square Garden since the Rangers traded him after nine seasons, took part in Lundqvist's ceremonial puck drop.