Instead, he toe-dragged to his right, around Ellis to the bottom of the right circle before flipping a puck over the glove of Preds goaltender Juuse Saros and just under the crossbar.
"Everything set up perfectly," Fiala said. "And I hit the spot too. I was pumped. I was so happy it went in, and against my last team ... no better feeling."
Perhaps the best part about it was that Fiala said the execution of the move came completely naturally, an example of the kind of rare creativity not seen around here in a long time.
"I didn't even think about it, it just came in my head in that moment, in my body," Fiala said.
While Fiala showed flashes of that skill at points this season, and certainly two years ago when he played for the Predators, he's been doing it every night for the better part of at least a month now.
Because he's been in the NHL for most of the past three seasons, it's sometimes easy to forget that he's still just 23. The skill has always been there, but consistency is almost always the last thing to come for any young player.
If the past eight weeks are any indication, that consistency has arrived for Fiala.
Which again, begs the question ... what can't this guy do?
"He's magic, man. He gets it," said Wild goaltender Alex Stalock. "He's the guy where fans are starting to get out of their seats now. But not only can he do it ... the moves and beat a defenseman, but the puck is starting to go in the net. That's not easy to do but right now, its been on a consistent basis.
"He has a ton of confidence right now and this kid, when he has it going, it's fun to watch."
For certain, Fiala is doing things in these parts that fans haven't seen since Marian Gaborik was wearing No. 10. Sure, guys have had better statistical seasons than the one Fiala is having, but few -- if any -- have been able to draw the kinds of "ooohs" and "ahhhs" that Fiala has been able to draw almost nightly from Wild fans.
