Faber ‘didn’t miss a beat’ in season debut for Wild after skull fracture

BOSTON -- Brock Faber was the first to congratulate Ryan Hartman at 6:54 of the first period at TD Garden on Saturday, the Minnesota Wild defenseman racing toward his teammate from the middle of the ice, eager to hug after helping take the lead against the Boston Bruins.

And why not?

It was the first time Faber had a chance to revel on the ice in seven weeks, his season debut taking place much longer than anticipated after suffering a skull fracture in a preseason game against the Dallas Stars on Sept. 25 when he was hit in the head by a shot by Dallas forward Sam Steel. Faber had surgery two days later.

The goal celebration was 48 days in the making.

“Obviously just getting that first one out of the way, it’s so fun, so special,” Faber said.

Minnesota played its first 21 games this season without Faber, who took the ice with an addition to his wardrobe -- ear guards added for extra protection -- about which he said, “I didn’t even notice them.”

Hartman’s goal wasn’t the only time Faber celebrated Saturday. He was on the ice for three more goals, one by Quinn Hughes 53 seconds into the second period, on which he had the secondary assist, one by Blake Coleman at 2:00 of the second, and one by Danila Yurov at 15:21 of the third period, an empty-netter sealing a 6-2 victory that extended the Wild’s point streak to 11 games (9-0-2).

Faber finished plus-4 in 24:29 of ice time, second behind Hughes (25:12).

“’Fabes’ looked good,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “I’m really happy for him. He worked hard to get back. It was a long road for him, but he looked good. He was skating, moved the puck, competed hard. Looked like his old self.”

Not that Faber was giving himself quite as much credit.

“It was honestly a pretty fortunate game on my end, I’d say,” Faber said. “I don’t think it was my best, but I felt OK. I felt better than I thought I would, to be honest. But yeah, definitely some things to clean up.”

Like what?

“The penalty kill,” he said, referring specifically to Fraser Minten’s power-play goal at 8:45 of the second. “I’ve got to get more confident and comfortable in our new system. I found myself second-guessing a lot and obviously that goal, just got impatient. So, that one’s definitely on me.

“But yeah, definitely need to watch some more film on that, get some more reps. And just my lungs, I think. Got to keep getting in better shape, get stronger and faster. Other than that, I think it should be able to get back pretty quick.”

Faber admitted he experienced nerves before the game, a desire to take things “shift by shift” and ease into his start of the season. It made sense given his injury and how long he’d been out.

The stat sheet showed otherwise. In fact, it looked eerily similar to Faber’s production last season, when the 24-year-old had 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) in 80 games and averaged 24:41 of ice time.

“He didn’t miss a beat,” Wild captain Jared Spurgeon said. “Obviously some great plays, great play on the goal, but just defensively such a good skater. Smart, great stick. He makes it look easy.”

Faber started the game on Minnesota’s second defense pair with Jonas Brodin, but ended up back with usual partner Hughes on offensive-zone draws as the game progressed, something he said “eased my minutes up a little bit tonight,” noting they were weighted toward those offensive-zone shifts.

It’s something Hynes said he may continue for a bit as Faber continues his return.

“We’ll see how he responds to it,” Hynes said. “It’s difficult, too, when you come back. I mean, this is the most intense he’s worked, even though you’re coming back, but it’s nothing like a game and this is a hard game, where there’s a lot of physical contact. So, we’ll see how he responds and where he’s at on Monday.”

In the meantime, his teammates are not complaining. They’re more than glad to see Faber return to the ice. As Hughes put it, “To get Brock back, I mean, our D-corps is just as good as anyone’s.”

He added, “(It was) his first game, so he’s just going to keep growing. The Brock you saw tonight won’t be the Brock you see in a week.”

Minnesota (15-3-4) extended its road win streak to eight, and its lead atop the Central Division to seven points.

It’s now added Faber, who will play at home for the first time this season against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; Wild+, MINNHL, SCRIPPS, KSTC).

“Like I said, there’s definitely things to improve on on my end,” Faber said. “I’m so happy to be back and happy that we won.”

NHL.com independent correspondent Joe McDonald contributed to this report