The Minnesota Wild faced the New York Islanders on Friday evening, November 7. The Wild were in the second half of a back-to-back, while the Islanders were in the first half. Their injury list got a lot shorter when Mats Zuccarello rejoined the lineup after missing the last fifteen games due to a lower-body injury. They were still without Zach Bogosian and Nico Sturm. The islanders were left without Maxim Shabanov.
Related: 3 takeaways from the Wild’s 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes
Jesper Wallstedt was in net for the Wild because Filip Gustavsson had played the night before, and for the Islanders it was David Rittich. The game started in the Wild’s favor, and although the Islanders tried to push back, the Wild kept their foot on the gas pedal and achieved the 5-2 victory. This moved the Wild’s record to 6-7-3 and the Islanders to 6-6-2.
Summary of the game
The game was quite back and forth until the Wild got on the scoreboard first with a goal from Vinnie Hinostroza. He was assisted by Jonas Brodin and Marcus Johansson to make it 1–0 just over seven minutes into the match. Just past the halfway point of the period, the Wild added another goal, this time thanks to Danila Yurov, with his second of the season. He was assisted by Yakov Trenin and Marcus Foligno. Those were the only two goals of the period, and the Wild took the lead in the second.
The Islanders answered back in the second period with a goal from Emil Heineman, cutting the Wild’s lead in half. He was assisted by Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal. The Wild responded by regaining the two-goal lead with a goal scored by Brock Faber, who was unassisted. Marco Rossi scored a short time later to give the Wild a 4-1 lead. He was assisted by Kirill Kaprizov and Daemon Hunt. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders with less than two minutes left in the period to bring his team back within two goals. He was assisted by Anders Lee and Ryan Pulock. That was the final goal of the period, and the Wild held onto the 4-2 lead in the third.
Kaprizov added another goal for the Wild midway through the third period to give his team a 5–2 lead. He was assisted by Mats Zuccarello, and that was the final goal of the game as the Wild took the win.
The Wild return home for another long homestand starting on Sunday, November 9, when they host the Calgary Flames. The Islanders hit the road on Saturday, November 8, to face their neighbors, the New York Rangers, in the second half of their home-and-home back-to-back.
#Wild #hold #lead #eliminate #Islanders #Hockey #Writers #NHL #News #Latest #news #analysis