Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 3, Hurricanes 2

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Saturday night:

1. Freddy's finest
Without a doubt, Saturday's game was Freddy Gaudreau's best in a Wild uniform.
Every shift, the line of Gaudreau, Kevin Fiala and Matt Boldy was causing problems, creating chances and ultimately scoring goals.
That line was responsible for a pair of tallies on the night, including the game's first goal midway through on a snipe by Fiala that was set up on a gritty effort play by Gaudreau to chase down a loose puck, evade a defender and feed Fiala in the slot.

"It was a fast game. Early, I felt like they surprised us a little bit. They came down. The defensemen, like they were on us all the time and just not a lot of space out there. So we had to move the puck quick. That's what we told each other. There's not a lot of space out there," Fiala said. "If you do little plays, little chips kind of, and just go forward, and we did it, and it was a great win for us."
Then in the third, after Kirill Kaprizov doubled the Wild lead, Gaudreau buried a snapper of his own on a feed from Fiala, who shielded the puck and dropped a pass, taking two defensemen with him and providing Gaudreau all the time and space he'd need to rifle a shot past Frederik Andersen to make it a 3-zip lead 2:34 into the third period.

"There's nothing like putting a puck in the net, that's the best feeling since we were kids, so it's fun to do that. But my belief is always the same, just to bring the little details and to make sure I don't cheat the game and play a solid game," Gaudreau said. "Of course, when you're not rewarded like you were at the beginning of the season, then it can be tough. But I just keep believing that if you do the good things, it's going to come your way and it's fun when it happens."
Gaudreau has been heating up as of late, posting multiple points in two of his past three and piling up three goals and three assists in his past six overall.

"Just chemistry. Like I feel like it's getting better and better," Fiala said. "For me in the start also, pucks didn't go in. it was posts and stuff like that, and for him, it was maybe the same thing. We had chances all year and then now they're going in, so it's just nice to see that."
It was a solid bounceback effort for Fiala, who had his franchise-record-tying 12-game point streak snapped Tuesday in Winnipeg. He's now got multiple points in four of his past six games.
"I think that whole line has a real nice chemistry right now," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "We talk about it looks like Kevin and Bolds have that connection and Gauds is just kind of their security blanket or whatever we ant to call it. But he has the hockey sense, the skill set, to also make plays in that area. Real happy with the way that whole line is competing."
2. And then there was offense
Through 40 minutes, it was a bit of a defensive slugfest. While Fiala's second-period tally was the only goal, the game was far from boring, feating two fast, skilled teams and plenty of scoring chances. Andersen and Cam Talbot, who both played in the All-Star Game last weekend in Las Vegas, were up to the task on both ends.
Then the third period started and the goals started to fall.

Kaprizov buried his own rebound for his 20th goal of the season just 76 seconds into the third, becoming the first Wild player to debut with the club by securing back-to-back 20-goal campaigns.
Gaudreau pushed the lead to 3-0 1:18 later with his fifth of the season.
"It's been a little while since we played and we haven't played that team too, so I feel like everybody is kind of analyzing everything more," Gaudreau said. "In the second it got better and we carried that throughout the end of the game."
Then it was Carolina's turn, as Andrei Svechnikov buried a snapper from distance at 5:02 before scoring on a power play 1:21 after that, quickly turning a three-goal lead into a one-goal advantage.
Talbot was outstanding throughout, finishing with 37 saves on 39 shots, including a couple of biggies in the final minutes and with Andersen on the bench for the extra attacker.
He improved to 4-0-0 with a 1.36 goals-against average and a .955 save percentage in his last four starts.

"I think it just continues to grow our confidence, to know that we can hang in there with one of the best teams in the league and come out on top," Talbot said. "They were relentless all over the ice tonight. We bent but we didn't break, and we got some big goals. We fed off the crowd. It was a big night with a lot of service members in the crowd, so we thank them for their service and their support, and it was fun to get them a win tonight."
3. Up to the task
After a clunker of an effort in its return from the All-Star break Tuesday night in Winnipeg, the Wild looked much like its former self in a contest featuring two of the NHL's very best -- and very hottest -- clubs on Saturday.
Carolina entered the game atop the Metropolitan Division with 67 points, having gone 9-1-1 in its past 11 games, including a 6-0 drubbing of the Boston Bruins at T.D. Garden on Thursday night.
Only Colorado (70), Florida (69) and Tampa Bay (68) have more points in the NHL than Carolina this season.
Likewise, the Wild was 9-1-1 in its past 11, with the defeat in Winnipeg marking the first regulation loss in more than a month.

"I think that's the most important thing after a loss is not to carry that on and on and lose five in a row like I think it happened earlier this year," Gaudreau said. "And that's not what we want to see, we gotta put our mind in the present moment after a loss and just play the next one like it's the most important game of the season, especially against a team like that, that was a fun one."
The victory vaulted the Wild into second place in the Central Division, one point clear of the Nashville Predators, but that doesn't tell the entire story. Minnesota has five games in hand on the Preds and three on the Blues, who trail the Wild by three points in the standings.

"I hope that we know that we can play with one of the best teams in the league. It's reinforcement for us that if we play the right way but we didn't at the start. But once we got to our game and we played like them, we were real good. When we were turning pucks over and we were turning back instead of going north, you see the pucks that they get out into the neutral zone and they skate into it," Evason said. "It's not mindless hockey. Sure, we'd all love tape to tape all the way up the ice but if there's no pass let's get it somewhere where we can put pressure on teams to make a mistake and that's what they do. So, we do that when we're playing really well so I think it's a good reinforcement for our group."

Loose pucks

• The Wild improved to 6-0-2 in its past eight at home against Carolina
• Minnesota is 15-2-1 at home ice this season, including 11-0-1 in its part 12
• Kaprizov has 22 points in his last 13 contests. He owns 54 points in 42 games this season, ranking tied for eighth in the NHL in scoring
• Jon Merrill talled an assist, his 14th point of the season, putting him just one shy of his career high in 2014-15
• Tony DeAngelo assisted on both Carolina goals
• Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen each tallied one assist
• Andersen finished with 24 saves

Dan's three stars

1. Freddy Gaudreau
   2. Kevin Fiala
   3. Cam Talbot

Highlights