Mats Zuccarello and Frederick Gaudreau each scored in a shootout as the Minnesota Wild snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Zuccarello started the shootout by firing a wrist shot through the pads of Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek. Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson then made a pad save on a wrist shot by Tomas Tatar. After Vanecek made a pad save on Kirill Kaprizov, Gustavsson made a toe save on Jesper Bratt’s attempt by the left post, setting the stage for Gaudreau’s game-winner which came on a wrist shot into the top right corner.
Ryan Hartman and Joel Eriksson Ek scored goals for Minnesota, while Gustavsson finished with 27 saves.
Tatar scored two goals for New Jersey, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Vanecek stopped 22 of 24 shots but had his career-best personal 10-game winning streak snapped.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead at the 5:52 mark of the first period on a power-play goal by Eriksson Ek. Defenseman Calen Addison set up the score with a wrist shot from inside the blue line that Eriksson Ek deflected past Vanecek’s blocker side for his 20th goal of the season, 10 of which have come on the power play.
Tatar tied it, 1-1, early in the second period with a one-timer from the left circle off an Ondrej Palat pass past Gustavsson’s glove side right as a holding penalty on Eriksson Ek expired.
Tatar then gave New Jersey a 2-1 lead at the 6:04 mark of the period when Jesper Boqvist’s shot from the right point deflected off his right skate over Gustavsson’s glove for his 12th goal of the season.
Hartman tied it early in the third period when Matt Dumba’s slap shot from the right post caromed off his ribs and then down off the skate of defenseman Dougie Hamilton and into the right corner of the net.
–Field Level Media
