Young Guns Carry Wild to Victory Over Detroit

The Wild would look to carry their momentum from Thursday night’s 4-1 victory over New York into Detroit with another two big points on the line. The Wild, still in the mix for a playoff spot need to take care of business against a team that is struggling this season. They will also need another win heading into the game Sunday against St. Louis. Also, the Wild will rely on Devan Dubnyk once again as he got the start for the second night in a row.

1st Period

The Wild would start the contest off strong as they would get a power-play early on, and for the first time in awhile, they showed signs of life with the man advantage. The Wild were unable to find the back of the net, but was able to get five shots on goal. With the Wild once again on a power-play, Dubnyk would freeze like he was in the deep cold a couple weeks back here in Minnesota, but Mikael Graunlund would save the day getting in front of the Anthony Mantha shot. The Wild would break the ice and strike first after a great all around shift by Donato-Kunin-Eriksson Ek, when Donato would win a board battle, give it to JEEK who dished it off to Kunin for his fourth goal since being recalled. 1-0 Wild. Not long after, Jordan Greenway would poke a puck past Mantha and snipe it high glove for the 2-0 Wild lead. That’s Greenway’s second goal in back-to-back games after not scoring since January 19th. The Wings second best opportunity to score would come in the final 25 seconds when Dubnyk came up huge multiple times to keep Detroit off the board. 2-0 Wild after 20 minutes of play.

2nd Period

Tyler Bertuzzi would pull the Wings within a goal after a great tip in front that Dubnyk had no chance in saving. Bertuzzi on a line with Dylan Larkin has been a bright spot for the Wings this season. Just moments later, Niklas Kronwall would “Kronwall” Folgino that would cause a scuffle involving J.T. Brown back from Iowa. Still in the second, Andreas Anthansiou would get absolutely robbed by Dubnyk to keep the Wild in front 2-1. The Wild would gain another two goal lead thanks to Eric Stall winning a battle in front snapping a streak of 12 games without a goal.

3rd Period

The Wild’s two goal lead wouldn’t last long because Minnesota would allow yet another power-play goal extending a streak of 17 goals in 15 games that the opposition has scored on the man advantage. Dubnyk would come up huge again robbing Frans Nielsen making sure the Wild could come out with the two points. After the Mantha goal, the Wild would begin their normal scramble mode of trying to keep the lead but Dubnyk would stand tall each time in the third to give the Wild a 3-2 victory for back-to-back wins on the road. Going into Sunday, which is the last home game of the month, the Wild will look to pick up a win or go win less in the month of February. Sunday’s game is also the last game before the trade deadline so we could be looking at a Wild lineup that may be different come Monday night.