ST PAUL, Minn. — Mats Zuccarello scored in overtime, Matt Boldy had two goals in regulation and the Minnesota Wild returned home with a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
The OT winner was spectacular. Zuccarello gathered the puck in his own zone and launched an end-to-end rusk, deking a Flyers defenseman like he was a pee wee before flipping it past Philly goaltender Carter Hart.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for Minnesota, which had lost three in a row and was 1-3 on a four-game road trip that dropped the Wild out of the top eight spots in the Western Conference wild-card standings.
Boldy had his third multi-goal game of the season. The 21-year-old left wing has 16 goals in his second NHL season and has six points during a four-game point streak.
With goalie Hart pulled in the final minutes, Tony D’Angelo sent the game into overtime for the Flyers with his eighth goal of the season with just 1:28 remaining in regulation. He wristed a shot high above Fleury’s shoulder that just found its way under the crossbar.
Minnesota native Noah Cates also scored for Philadelphia, which has lost five of seven. Hart stopped 20 shots.
While the teams are infrequent opponents in separate conferences, both appeared to be looking for an early spark. There were three matching fighting majors in the first 10 minutes, all coming within 16 seconds of each other.
Another fight came early in the second period and there was a big skirmish behind Minnesota's net in the third.
The Wild’s tough road trip included the benching of veteran defenseman Matt Dumba for two games. Veteran forward Ryan Hartman, who scored 34 goals last season while part of Minnesota’s top line, was a healthy scratch Thursday, with coach Dean Evason lambasting Hartman’s penchant for taking "stupid" penalties.
Cates, who grew up in Stillwater, was credited with a goal to open the scoring just 5:14 into the first period. Rasmus Ristolainen’s point shot deflected off Cates and trickled past Fleury.
Boldy, who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract extension on Jan. 16, scored his first of the game in the second, sending home a behind-the-net pass from Marcus Foligno that first went off a Flyers stick. Boldy’s second goal came on the power play as Kirill Kaprizov sent a pass across the crease to Boldy, who was crashing the net.
PAINFUL
The Flyers lost forwards Zack MacEwen and Wade Allison during the game. MacEwen was involved in one of the fights against Foligno. Allison, who also was in a fight with Mason Shaw, later left after blocking a shot.
UP NEXT
Wild: Host high-scoring Buffalo on Saturday.
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