Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 4, Flyers 1

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Tuesday night:

1. Seven up
The Wild's nine-game homestand started inauspiciously a couple of weeks ago. Remember the night the club retired Mikko Koivu's No. 9 into the rafters? Minnesota went out and lost 6-2 to the Nashville Predators, a score that was a bit more lopsided because of a couple of empty-net goals at the end, but the point still stands.
That was the last hiccup on this record-long slog through the home docket. Minnesota has won each of its past seven games and will embark on the final leg of this homestand Thursday night with a chance to close it out with eight consecutive victories.

"We want to be great at home before the playoffs and make as many points as possible right now in the homestead. After the deadline, also, now we're set and the new guys feel like we're a big family," said Wild forward Kevin Fiala. "They came in and didn't take long to get into it and feel comfortable with us, and that's awesome. It's been awesome to involve everybody, and I think it's worked out very well."
The game on Tuesday presented a much different kind of challenge than the one the Wild faced against NHL-leading Colorado on Sunday.
The Flyers won't sniff the postseason this year and have begun their influx of young talent that will hopefully build the core of that team in the future.

But that also means they have nothing to lose, and a number of guys are playing for their next contracts, whether in Philly or elsewhere.
That can present a dangerous challenge for a team like the Wild that has a lot more at stake, but Minnesota handled it with aplomb.
"It can be challenging a little bit, of course. But again we get on the ice and we have all the fans cheering. It puts you right back in it," said Wild forward Freddy Gaudreau. "I think that we are experienced enough in the locker room that we know, especially in those games, we can't take it off. We can't start cheating it and we remind ourselves before games always, just stay true to who we are and that's all we can do. When we do, good things happen."
2. Big dogs keep barking
One of the common themes lately -- and really all season -- has been the continued production from guys like Fiala and Kirill Kaprizov.
Depth has been key, but when two of the Wild's most explosive offensive catalysts are rolling the way they are, this team is going to be incredibly tough to beat.
"We're a tough team to be against. We're rolling right now, all four lines, the defensemen, both the goaltenders, everyone's on board. If the leaders just keep going, it's going to be tough for any team to stop us, I feel like," Fiala said. "It's gonna keep it going. There's still a lot more games coming up. It's been nice, it's been good, but there's a lot of games left."
Kaprizov ended up scoring the winner, capitalizing on a power-play snap shot from the left circle at 16:23 of the first period for his 37th goal of the season. He now sits at 82 points on the year, one point shy of Marian Gaborik's franchise mark of 83 set in 2007-08.

He's also five goals shy of Gaborik's and Eric Staal's team-record of 42 goals in a season. There are 17 games left before the end of the regular campaign, and if he stays on his current torrid pace, he's got a really good chance of catching that record too.
Kaprizov has tallied 13 goals in the month of March, which tied a club record for a single month. Thursday's game against the Penguins is the final game in March.
Kaprizov also had a goal disallowed in the second period because it was ruled Ryan Hartman made contact with goaltender Martin Jones. A whole bunch of history would have been made had that goal counted.
Fiala scored the fourth goal of the game from a ridiculous angle late in the second period, a goal which provided the Wild with a four-goal buffer headed to the third period.

The goal was his 23rd of the season, which tied his career best for a third time. He now has 60 points on the season, extending his career high.
Both Kaprizov and Fiala have been big-time drivers for a team that prides itself on depth up and down the lineup.
"We want everybody to go but I think when we have some depth, right, and not just necessarily the two guys, but we've got some depth scoring. We've got some different people scoring in different situations," Evason said. "You even look at the overtimes the last three games we've had different scorers right so it's nice to have that depth. And there's always an internal competition to play more and different situations. I think our group has done a real good job."
3. Flower flashes the leather
Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has made a career of robbing potential goal scorers. And they can't even hate him for it, because he does it with a smile on his face.
Few in the history of the game have perfected the windmill save quite like Fleury, who has victimized the Wild with it a number of times over the years, including a couple last year as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights in the playoffs.

Well, he gave Wild fans what they wanted on Tuesday night by flashing the glove on veteran James van Riemsdyk to prevent a goal on a delayed penalty.
Fiala meandered over in the aftermath with a matching grin, patting the veteran tendy over the head.
"Great to have him here. We've seen it on the other side here, we've seen those saves for many years," Fiala said. "It's just good for him to get comfortable here and talking about it on the bench, he's getting comfortable, so that's good to see.
"Saves like that we saw today, he just makes on pure instinct. He just thinks ... I don't know, I'm not a goalie so you'd have to ask him, but I think he doesn't really think, he just plays because everything happens so fast, it's pure instinct and he makes great saves like the glove save. I think it's cool."
"Yeah I like those. I don't know. Since I was a kid I always loved playing goalie. When you make those saves, diving around and stuff, those are the most fun," Fleury said. "It's a lot of fun doing them."
Also, ya gotta feel for poor Noah Cates. The Stillwater native and former University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldog, making his NHL debut in his hometown in front of a whole litter of former Bulldog teammates, was also denied glory by the Flower in the third period, preventing what would have been a heart-warming first-goal moment. Flower went with the old school two-pad stack on that one.
Fleury was tested early, making 12 saves in the first half of the first period, then again late as the Flyers piled up 17 shots in the third period. He was steady in between and improved to 2-0-0 in a Wild sweater.
Named the game's first star, bouquets again rained down from the stands as the future Hall-of-Famer circled the ice after the game.
"Like I said last time, it still feels like a figure skater picking up those flowers. Obviously it's very nice of the people," Fleury said with a chuckle. "hey don't need to waste money on flowers. It's OK."
Inside the locker room, Fleury has been a breath of fresh air. Even with three Stanley Cup rings and a resume that rivals just about any active player in the NHL, Fleury doesn't carry himself like that.
"Just a good person. Selfish shouldn't even be in the sentence with him. I was going to say he's not selfish, he's far from that. It's the complete opposite. He's selfless," Gaudreau said. "He's just the type of guy that you can tell wants the best for everybody. He always has a smile on his face. It's contagious for everyone. And you know, we have that kind of team too where everybody's a good person, so it's fun to just add those type of guys."

Loose pucks

• The Wild became the fifth team in NHL history to earn seven wins in a homestand of nine games or more
• Minnesota's 10 wins in the month of March is tied for most in the NHL
• The Wild improved to 9-1-1 over its past 11 overall
• At 24-6-1, the Wild ranks tied for third in the league in home victories
• Matt Dumba scored the 12th game-opening goal of his NHL career tying Ryan Suter for the most by a defenseman in team history
• Gaudreau finished with two assists, his sixth multi-point game of the season
• Joel Eriksson Ek also had two assists
• Jordan Greenway potted his eighth goal of the campaign
• Morgan Frost scored the lone goal for Philadelphia
• Jones finished with 33 saves

Dan's three stars

1. Marc-Andre Fleury
   2. Freddy Gaudreau
   3. Kevin Fiala

Highlights