The Ducks could not get their offense going tonight in Minnesota, falling 2-0 to the Wild at XCel Energy Center.
The loss, Anaheim's fourth in a row and second to begin a four-game midwestern road trip, dropped the club to 23-40-3 on the season.
Kirill Kaprizov and Zach Bogosian scored for the Wild, who improved to 33-27-7 on the season and pulled with four points of the Western Conference's second Wild Card berth with their third straight win. Marc-Andre Fleury became the 12th goaltender in NHL history to reach 75 career shutouts with stops on all 17 Anaheim shots.
Minnesota scored the only goal of the opening frame, a one-timer from the point by Bogosian that snuck trough traffic and sailed over Dostal's glove hand.
The 33-year-old Bogosian, signed to a two-year extension earlier this month, has 11 points in 48 games with the Wild this season, his best offensive total since the 2018-19 campaign.
Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury after taking a check into the boards by Wild forward Marcus Johansson. Gudas did not return. Johansson was not assessed a penalty on the play.
Anaheim's Brett Leason very nearly leveled the score early in the middle frame on a breakaway chance against Fleury sprung by Cam Fowler's stretch pass, but the veteran netminder denied Leason with a right pad save.
The missed opportunity would quickly prove costly on the other end of the ice too, as a Minnesota 2-on-1 rush moments later ended with Kaprizov converting a backdoor pass from linemate Ryan Hartman.
Kaprizov has scored in five of his last six games and now has 14 goals in his last 13 outings, tied for the most in the NHL during that span. Named to his third consecutive NHL All-Star Game this season, Kaprizov leads the Wild in points and goals this season.
With an assist, Hartman has found the scoresheet in three straight games and four of his last five. Hartman's 38 points this season mark the second-best total of his eight-year NHL career.
Anaheim appeared to get back within one early in the third period when Pavol Regenda jammed home a loose puck amidst a netfront scramble in the Minnesota crease, but the goal was overturned after a Minnesota challenge revealed the play to be offside.
The Ducks continue a four-game road trip Friday in Winnipeg.
