Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 7, Ducks 3

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 7-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Friday night:

1. Quick-strike attack
The Wild scored in bunches on Friday night, scoring three times in the span of 7 1/2 minutes in the first period to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
It was the same score after two, but it didn't take long for the next Wild wave.
Minnesota made it 4-1 just 30 seconds into the final frame, then pushed its lead to four goals only four seconds later. Believe it or not, the four seconds between goals was not a franchise record (three seconds), but that marker pretty much put the exclamation point on the contest.

"I honestly just heard the goal song just continuing," said Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. "The fans were rocking. It was awesome. A Friday night crowd. It was a lot of fun to play in front of them."
The Wild would actually make it 6-1 at the 2:05 mark of the period, which made life a whole lot easier, even after Anaheim scored twice in less than two minutes just a couple of minutes later.

When Dumba provided the final bit of offense at 11:47 of the third, it marked the third time this season the Wild had scored seven goals in a game. If the Wild reaches seven goals again this season, it would tie a franchise record (2019-20).
The win was Minnesota's 10th consecutive over Anaheim dating back to the early portion of last season, the longest such streak over one opponent in Wild franchise history.
It also extended Minnesota's impressive run on home ice. The Wild is 8-0-1 over its past nine games on Xcel Energy Center ice and 12-2-1 in downtown St. Paul overall this season.

"We loved our start but then we ... didn't handle our success very well either," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "Because how do you play well for 10 minutes then say, 'well we were rusty after that.' I don't think we were rusty, I just don't think we did some things correctly after that."
It took Anaheim seven minutes to register a shot on goal, and not long after that, Ryan Hartman made it 2-0 when he batted home a rebound of a Kirill Kaprizov shot and a Mats Zuccarello feed.
That seemed to wake up the Ducks, however. Max Comtois cut the lead in half, and even after Zuccarello answered that with a one-timer of his own to make it 3-1, Anaheim seemed to have the better of the play the rest of the period.
Kaapo Kahkonen, who finished with 39 saves in the game, made a few timely saves to preserve the multi-goal lead, including all 12 shots he saw in the second period, before Minnesota blew the game wide open in the first 125 seconds of the third period.

"Not all parts of our game were all that great tonight," Dumba said. "But we definitely did execute. It's great to get the third [win in a row]."
Added Zuccarello: "I think we had a good first period but then I think our second and third wasn't our best. We get some goals, some lucky balances and stuff like that. But it wasn't our best game and Anaheim played well most of the game.
"We were fortunate to get the goals today, but when you haven't played in awhile, it's excited to get a win here."
2. Boldy with a beauty
Matt Boldy scored his first NHL goal in his first game in his hometown of Boston last week, and on Friday night, he added his first ever NHL assist. He also added his first goal on home ice during the Wild's third-period blitz.
Like the goal against the Bruins, his assist was a dandy.
With the Wild and Ducks scoreless early on, Boldy led Kevin Fiala in a 2-on-1 rush into the offensive zone. The rookie forward dropped the puck off to Fiala, then slyly took the defenseman with him, allowing Fiala a whole bunch of open ice and a path to the cage.
Fiala did the rest, flipping a puck past Anthony Stolarz for his eighth goal of the season at the 7:25 mark of the opening frame.
It was an outstanding play by a 20-year-old forward who is playing the game with supreme confidence.

"I think it doesn't matter if you're young or old, confidence is the most important thing. If you have confidence you make those plays that you're supposed to make and that you're capable of making," Zuccarello said. "But if you're lacking confidence, doesn't matter if you're 34 or 20, those passes you hesitate and they really quite don't get there where you hope they were going to. Confidence is key for everyone, especially for a young kid."
Boldy, who was averaging a point per game in 10 contests with Iowa this season, has come up to the NHL and continued to be an impactful player at this level, tallying three points in his first three games.
"It's been impressive. You've got to keep your stick on the ice and be ready. It seems like his vision is awesome and he creates his own space which is really unique with a young guy," Dumba said. "Just the way he moves and the vision that he has is impressive. Hopefully that's just the start."

Fiala has been one of the beneficiaries of that early production, as the veteran scored the goal then immediately turned around and pointed out the rookie to give him props on the feed.
"I think me an Kev - and Freddy too - I think we work really well together," Boldy said. "We all think similar but have our differences that add to the line and the dynamic that we have. We all want to create offense and we all think really creatively, and I think that will go a long way out there. Seeing plays that might take other guys just half a second longer or something like that, with how smart they are they make it pretty easy out there."

With the line of Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman flourishing all season long, if Boldy can add a playmaking winger to Fiala's line, and the eventual return of Joel Eriksson Ek to the center of Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno, the Wild has the makings of a special group up front.
We're just three games into Boldy's NHL career, but he sure looks like a guy with no desire to head back to Des Moines anytime soon.
"Boldy and Fiala, looked like they were looking for each other a little bit," Evason said. "That looks like it might be a good pair."
3. Welcome back, Kirill
After missing the past game and a half with an upper-body injury sustained in the second period in Boston eight days ago, Kaprizov quickly made up for lost time.
He tallied a pair of assists on Friday night, firing the initial shot on Ryan Hartman's mid-air swat early in the game, then feeding Zuccarello's one-timer blast six minutes later for his second assist in the first 15 minutes of the game.
The behind-the-back feed is usually one Zuccarello puts on Kaprizov's stick.

"It's a good thing that he can learn something from me too," Zuccarello quipped. "I mean, I kinda know that he sees me and knows that I'm there and trying to just be ready. He's a good player that sees the ice well and I'm used to that right now. I see it in practice, I see it every game. He sees you everywhere you are. It's starting to get normal."
Named an All-Star for the first time on Thursday, Kaprizov now has multiple points in three of his past four contests and in 11 games this season. He owns 10 points in his past five games overall.

"That's Kirill. He's working hard. Once he got back into practice he was right back in the swing of things," Dumba said. "He more than anyone else holds himself accountable and he wants to be at the best of his abilities every night."
Most importantly, Kaprizov apparently got out of the game no worse for the wear.
"Couple cringes down in the corner. He pulled up and spun back and got hit pretty hard by some big people," Evason said. "I don't think there was anything serious, he got out of it and continued to play. We're real happy with that for sure."

Loose pucks

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• The three-point night for Zuccarello was the 26th of his NHL career. He's tallied at least a point in five consecutive games
• Freddy Gaudreau assisted on Boldy's goal, giving him career highs in assists (nine) and points (11)
• Boldy's multi-point game was the first of his NHL career
• Hartman's goal was his team-leading 16th of the year
• Foligno secured an assist on Rask's goal to push his point streak to three games
• Kahkonen improved to 6-1-1 with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage in his last nine games (eight starts)
• Stolarz stopped 23 of 29 shots before being pulled for Lukas Dostal 2:05 into the third
• Dostal finished the game with 12 saves
• Comtois had a goal and an assist
• Trevor Zegras tallied a goal and an assist for the Ducks
• Derek Grant scored Anaheim's third goal

Dan's three stars

1. Mats Zuccarello
   2. Matt Boldy
   3. Ryan Hartman

Highlights