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  • The 10 Craziest Stats From the Wild's First 10-Goal Game

    Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-USA Today Sports
    Tony Abbott

    By Tony Abbott -

    With 1:12 on the clock in the second period, the Minnesota Wild got an extended 5-on-3 to finish out the middle frame. Down 5-2, they surely hoped the two-man advantage could spark them to a comeback against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday afternoon.

    They got a spark, all right. That spark led to an explosion of scoring that couldn't have been more ferocious if you doused it in kerosene. Over the next 21:12, the Wild rushed pucks to the net and put up eight goals, thanks to a Joel Eriksson Ek hat trick, followed by a Kirill Kaprizov hat trick as a grand finale. It had the Xcel Energy Center feeling like The Twilight Zone and left defenseman Quinn Hughes nearly in tears on the bench by the game's end.

    Wild fans had never seen that kind of outburst from their team before. Throughout their first 1,785 games as a franchise, they'd only topped out at eight goals in a game (seven times, most recently on March 15, 2023). Then in Game 1,786, they went ahead and set the record by two.

    And that's just the first nutty fact we dug up about the Wild's thrilling 10-7 win. Thanks to Stathead.com, we'll have nine more where that came from.

    2. Of course, we also just witnessed the highest-scoring game in Wild history... and it isn't close. With 17 total goals, just three games in team history even come close. That 2023 win over the Blues, as well as a 2022-23 7-6 opening game loss to the New York Rangers and an 8-5 win over the Coyotes in 2019 had the old record with 13 combined goals. 

    3. Minnesota's seven goals in the third period aren't just a team record, it's also the sixth time since 2000 that any team has scored seven or more times in a period. 

    4. Casey DeSmith had a rough day in net, giving up eight goals on 25 shots, but it was far from the worst day against the Wild in history. Somehow, 10 goalies (over 11 games) have faced 10 or more shots with a save percentage worse than DeSmith's .680 mark. We'll give the award for "Worst Game Facing the Wild" to Brayden Holtby, who played the entire game and made just one more save (6) than goal allowed (5) for a .545 save percentage in a 3-5 loss. Brutal!

    5. The Wild are now the 32nd franchise in NHL history (counting the New Jersey Devils in a playoff game) to have a 10-goal game, though six of those franchises no longer exist. That leaves six teams remaining in the NHL without a 10-goal game: Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning (!!!), Winnipeg Jets (former Atlanta Thrashers), and the Vegas Golden Knights. The Wild only have 54 to go before passing the Montreal Canadiens for most all-time.

    6. Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov both racked up six points on Monday. In one day, the Wild doubled the total number of six-point games in franchise history. Marian Gaborik had the other two: Two goals and four assists in a 2002 win against the Phoenix Coyotes, and the time he added an assist onto his five-goal game. 

    7. Monday was one of just 137 instances in all of NHL history where teammates have gotten hat tricks in the same game. It's happened just 16 times over the past 30 years.

    8. This would be the time to say this was the first time in history that two Wild players scored hat tricks... and it is... but it almost wasn't. In Game 2 of Minnesota's 2022 series against the St. Louis Blues, hats hit the ice twice for the home team, though an offside review negated a goal from counting. Those two players? Kirill Kaprizov (three goals) and Joel Eriksson Ek (two goals, the overturned third).

    9. Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov now have as many six-point games in their careers as:

    And one more than:

    10. As for two players scoring six points or more for the same team in the same game? This was the 28th time in history that happened. The last time that occurred? October 9, 1993, when Wayne Gretzky and Tomas Sandstrom did it for the Los Angeles Kings. Repeating this: Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov just did something for the first time since Wayne Goddamn Gretzky. 

    It gets even nuttier. What about games where multiple teammates got hat tricks and six points? That happened just four times in NHL history before yesterday. Two from Gretzky and his Edmonton Oilers, and the two others coming from Peter and Anton Stastny's Quebec Nordiques. All four games occurred from 1981 to 1983. 

    Outside of a three-season stretch with more scoring than almost any other era in league history, it just happened once: To the Minnesota Wild. On Monday.

    We've never seen this in the State of Hockey before, and it's going to be a long time until we'll get to see another game this nutty. 

    By Tony Abbott  

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    AKwildkraken

    It Ek starts putting in more one timers like the third goal, look out for Selke awards.  Especially if the faceoff % continues to get better.  

    That game wasn't right, but entertaining.  I missed the first half of it, but it sounded like they weren't being outplayed but definitely outscored.  Then the third period happened.  I have a hard time pointing a finger at the goalies as I thought there wasn't any really soft goals, but a lot of flukey goals.  Just an odd game.  

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    Imyourhuckleberry

    Crazy entertaining game in the last 22 minutes. Gustavsson had a rough night, but the skaters took full advantage of their power play opportunities and played like Wild men and wouldn't accept anything less than victory!

    Blues lost again, so the Wild are just 2 points back of the 8th spot now with three games still remaining against the Blues. The Wild's remaining schedule has the lowest combined points percentage of all NHL teams, especially after they finish the Canadian leg of the next road trip through Winnipeg and Edmonton, which begins tomorrow night.

    Jets lost in Calgary Monday, so both them and the Wild will be traveling to Winnipeg for Tuesday night's game.

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    B1GKappa97
    2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

    Eriksson Ek carries a $5.25m cap hit for years...

    YEARS...

     

    Typical Guerin contract. Stupid Ek keeping Yurov from the top 6!!!

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    mnfaninnc

    I watched the game on delay after being intrigued by the Daytona 500 (my grandson loves racing). I clicked on my phone to see if I really wanted to watch the Canucks game and saw the result. Yeah, 17 goals, I definitely wanted to watch. Being down 5-2 was a little hard to swallow. 

    I didn't think it was Goose2's night in the 1st period. In the 2nd period, even though he gave up 3, I thought he was pretty good. But, the bounces weren't going his way. I would have pulled him after the 3rd goal, maybe after the 1st period. I certainly would have had Fleury stretch out during the 1st intermission, and therein lies a question: What was Heinzy waiting for? 

    Both Evason and Heinzy have been very slow, if not frozen from pulling the goalie. So, I have to wonder, is it because we have to deal with a 39 year old goaltender? Goose2 should have no problem getting loose and stepping in, but an older goaltender who has been sitting awhile may need to stretch back out before getting in the game. Does this play a part in not pulling a goalie when needed due to performance? Did Goose2 get pulled due to performance or did he tweak something?

    My philosophy on this is getting a feel for if a goalie is on or not. I do not have much patience for goalies to work through their problems during a game, I'd rather pull them, and I don't have a problem putting one back in that has been pulled. When we move to The Wall and Goose2 (who will then just be Goose), we'll have 2 young and limber goalies who should be interchangeable even mid game. For me, the call to the bullpen would be often if performance dictated it. The goalies should be working as a team to defend that net. Sometimes, it just isn't their night.

    The 5-3 chances were quite amazing. I don't remember ever seeing that many in a game, and not since the late '70s or '80s. And even back then, referees tended to even things up a little more. But even then, when DeSmith let in like 4 shots in a row, where was Tocchet to pull his netminder?

    Interestingly, this game could be a preview of the 1st round. My hope is if we make the playoffs, Vancouver is the President's trophy champion. I think we can match up well against the Canucks in a 7 game series. What I did like was that the game was already a bit chippy and we aren't really division rivals. A little nasty in the playoffs should help another rivalry. 

    Another interesting thing was Rossi only got 1 point, Faber got shut out on 4 PP goals! That would be unexpected although he doesn't play on the 5-3s. Speaking of which, we really need a righty with a great shot on that unit. Hartman does not have a great shot. We still don't have the back door player either to set up in Ovechkin's office. In case anyone was wondering, our PP% leaped up to 14th in the league after yesterday's game. 

    Now, can we carry this over to Winnipeg? Winnipeg has been cold lately, this is a good time to get them. A victory here would be real nice.

     

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    Protec
    15 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

    Crazy entertaining game in the last 22 minutes. Gustavsson had a rough night, but the skaters took full advantage of their power play opportunities and played like Wild men and wouldn't accept anything less than victory!

    Blues lost again, so the Wild are just 2 points back of the 8th spot now with three games still remaining against the Blues. The Wild's remaining schedule has the lowest combined points percentage of all NHL teams, especially after they finish the Canadian leg of the next road trip through Winnipeg and Edmonton, which begins tomorrow night.

    Jets lost in Calgary Monday, so both them and the Wild will be traveling to Winnipeg for Tuesday night's game.

    Maybe Chisolm can do to WPG, what former Wild players usually do to MN.:classic_biggrin:

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    Pewterschmidt
    11 minutes ago, Protec said:

    Maybe Chisolm can do to WPG, what former Wild players usually do to MN

    I haven't seen enough of Eveleth to say he's the next big thing on the Wild blue line, but he does appear to be pretty sturdy and mobile.  I don't see the Addison comparison's at all but that's not a bad thing necessarily.  Addy was silky smooth, but not built like an NHL'r.  Why didn't Hunt see more TOI?  Are they trying to slow cook him (i suspect) or are there major flaws in his game that keep him out?

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    joebou15

    Listened to the game while I was driving to and from Nowthen and I laughed out loud when all Tom was giggling in the booth and Joe O'Donnell says, "My goodness, what action!" In the world's biggest understatement.

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