STREET. PAUL, Minn. — Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each had hat tricks for the Minnesota Wild, who faced a three-goal deficit in the second period before coming back with six unanswered goals and holding on for a 10-7 record. victory over the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks on Monday.
Minnesota's six goals in a 5:45 span were the fastest such burst in the NHL in 25 years, since Washington scored six goals in 4:47 in a Feb. 3, 1999, game.
Matt Boldy, Mats Zuccarello, Marco Rossi and Jonas Brodin also scored for the Wild, who set their franchise record for goals in a game. They also recorded their fastest four-goal streak in team history, all on the power play in a 2:17 span to take a 6-5 lead early in the third period.
“It was all the guys,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said when asked if he gave a memorable speech for his team in the locker room before the third-period break. “You could feel the way, in the game, that there was no disappointment. When it was 4-1, 5-2, the mentality was still the same… And then it was more about just staying with it.”
Zuccarello scored with 27 seconds left in the second half. The Wild switched goaltenders at halftime from Filip Gustavsson to Marc-Andre Fleury and then got loose when the sloppy, slow Canucks squandered a JT Miller hat trick.
“You have to learn to play under pressure,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “These are lessons we have to learn.”
Minnesota's goals came again from Eriksson Ek, Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek in the dizzying first 1:44 of the third period to make it 6-5. Rossi then scored Jake Lucchini's shot off his skate at 4:48 and Kaprizov added another at 5:12 to add to the damage on Canucks goalie Casey DeSmith.
“A lot of times during the game we were in control of the game, but not in control of the score,” Hynes said. “But we took advantage and were able to get to the attacking game we had talked about.”
With Vancouver playing the first half of a series of back-to-back games, Tocchet decided to keep senior goalkeeper Thatcher Demko on the bench to rest.
Elias Pettersson had his team-leading 29th goal and Ian Cole scored the first goal for the Canucks, who scored on their only two shots on net during the first 15 minutes of the game against Gustavsson.
The Canucks (37-14-6) took seven penalties and lost their second straight game. They fell to 28-7-2 when they scored first. Nikita Zadorov and Brock Boeser scored in the third period, cutting the lead to 8-7 with 2:08 left, before the Wild added two empty-net goals.
“They're really stupid punishments with sticks,” Tocchet said. “You can't do that. And we have to learn. When you play under pressure, you can't do those things.”
The Wild, fighting to stay in contention in the Western Conference wild-card standings, moved two points into the No. 8 spot with the win.
“This is the time of year when you have to win. We knew coming into this game, you have to be at your competitive best to win,” Hynes said, referring to playing the best team in the West and how to build from there. this victory. “For me, mindset is the most important thing. That will be addressed.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
