Wild lose to Panthers 2-1 in shootout featuring battle of hot goalies, plenty of penalties

One step forward but not a complete step back.

After ending their three-game skid over the weekend, the Wild didn't start a win streak on Monday in front of an announced crowd of 17,453 at Xcel Energy Center but they did pick up a point in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Panthers plagued by penalties.

"Momentum-wise, of course we want to win every game," goaltender Filip Gustavsson said. "But once again, we didn't give up a lot like the previous game. That's what we've been working on: We don't want to give up 2-on-1s, 3-on-2s and turn the puck over as much.

"That's the step in the right direction."

Still, this was the fourth game the Wild have dropped out of the past five and seventh in 10. Their next test is a key Central Division battle on Wednesday vs. the reigning Stanley Cup champion Avalanche.

After Mats Zuccarello scored, Kirill Kaprizov and Frederick Gaudreau were denied during the Wild's second consecutive shootout, while Florida's Anton Lundell and Aleksander Barkov capitalized to end a nearly game-long stalemate that evolved into a goaltending showdown amid 14 combined penalties.

"I don't want to get fined," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "It's tough. It was tough [Monday]."

Sergei Bobrovsky, who was injured when the Panthers downed the Wild 5-3 last month at home, was sharp during a 27-save performance. So was Gustavsson, actually, his 33 stops through regulation counting as the 15th time in 21 starts he's limited the opposition to two goals or less.

"It's my job," said Gustavsson, who was in net on Saturday when the Wild outlasted the Devils 3-2 in a shootout. "I just need to stop every puck. If it's a shootout, if it's one goal, if it's two goals, as long as the team wins, that's my job."

But with the Wild's offense still spotty, the team didn't provide him with enough goal support to outduel Bobrovsky.

"We have to go and get some of the dirty goals, find a way to win some ugly battles and get some ugly goals," Kaprizov said through an interpreter. "That'll open up some space for us to make some plays and score some nicer goals. But myself included, I think I need to go and get some dirty goals and find a way to have things open up on the ice and just start winning games."

Florida buried its goal — when else? — in the second period.

A Gustav Forsling point shot was tipped in by Eetu Luostarinen at 2:06, the 19th goal surrendered by the Wild in the middle frame since Jan. 19; that's the most in the NHL. They've potted 10 in the second in that span after Kaprizov tallied the equalizer at 5:15.

Kaprizov scored his team-leading 30th goal from a tight angle inside the left circle to become only the third player in Wild history to post consecutive 30-goal campaigns, joining Marian Gaborik and Brian Rolston.

Calen Addison's assist was his 31st point of the season, lifting him past Filip Kuba for the most career points by a Wild rookie defenseman; Kuba held that record since the Wild's inaugural 2000-01 season.

The Wild had plenty of chances to move ahead of the Panthers the rest of the period: Connor Dewar had a shorthanded breakaway stay out, while Matt Boldy was also stopped on a breakaway.

They were also short a forward.

Marcus Foligno left in the second after a shot block against Forsling hit Foligno's left knee and knocked him down. Foligno had to be helped off the ice and did not return, suffering what Evason described as a "stinger."

Overall, the Wild went 0-for-5 with the man advantage, a rare off-night for the power play that's been vital to the offense while its 5-on-5 production has dipped. Florida was 0-for-7; the Panthers did score on an abbreviated 5-on-3, but the goal was immediately called off because of goaltender interference.

"It's tough to get a rhythm 5-on-5," Evason said. "We just didn't have a chance to get to that game."