The Minnesota Wild will strive to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games when they visit the Anaheim Ducks on Friday to open a three-game road trip.
Kirill Kaprizov scored with 24 seconds remaining in overtime on Tuesday night as the Wild erased a 2-1 deficit and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 for their fourth straight win, matching a season best.
Kaprizov, who has a team-high 16 goals and 39 points in 24 games, has factored into a league-high 10 game-winning goals (four goals, six assists) this season.
Frederick Gaudreau and Jake Middleton also scored for Minnesota, which is 6-1-1 over its last eight games.
“I thought it was a hard-fought game by both teams, kind the style of game that we felt this morning when we talked what it was going to be, and it certainly lived up to that,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I really like, I think, our mental and physical toughness in the game. … It was physical, it was hard, we came back twice.”
Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves in Tuesday’s win to improve to 12-4-3 in 19 starts. The Wild goaltender owned the league’s best save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (2.04) entering Thursday’s action.
In five career games against the Ducks, Gustavsson is 4-1-0 with a .934 save percentage and a 1.98 GAA.
Joel Eriksson Ek, who left Tuesday’s contest with a lower-body injury, is out week-to-week, the team announced on Wednesday. The Wild forward missed one game with a lower-body injury in November.
Additionally, Minnesota announced that Jonas Brodin (upper body) is week-to-week, Jakub Lauko (lower body) is day-to-day and Mats Zuccarello (lower body) is week-to-week.
Friday is the second of three meetings between the Ducks and Wild.
Kaprizov had two goals and an assist to lead Minnesota to a 5-2 win over Anaheim on Nov. 8. Middleton, Marcus Foligno and Marco Rossi also scored for the Wild, and Gustavsson made 33 saves in the win.
Robby Fabbri and Mason McTavish scored for the Ducks in that game.
Anaheim enters Friday’s action following a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
Jackson LaCombe scored the Ducks’ lone goal, and John Gibson made 29 saves for Anaheim, which has lost two of three (1-2-0).
The Ducks also lost forward Trevor Zegras to a lower-body injury 40 seconds into the second period.
“What happens is you’re down a forward and you rotate different bodies,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “The chemistry that you had through your lines, which have been consistent for a couple games, gets disrupted, but it happens. It’s hockey and guys get hurt.”
Anaheim’s penalty kill was a perfect 2-for-2 in the loss to Vegas. The Ducks have killed off 20 of their last 21 penalties.
Cam Fowler returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury. The Ducks defenseman was a minus-2 in 20:08 of ice time.
Forward Troy Terry leads the Ducks with 19 points in 24 games this season, while Terry, Leo Carlsson and Frank Vatrano pace Anaheim with six goals apiece.
Gibson is 4-2-1 in seven starts this season, posting a .919 save percentage and a 2.57 GAA. In 19 career games against the Wild, Gibson is 7-7-4 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.59 GAA.
The Ducks and Wild wrap up the season series on April 15 in Minnesota.
–Field Level Media
