Fleury makes 16 saves, Wild shut out Ducks to extend point streak to 6

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves, and the Minnesota Wild extended their point streak to six games with a 2-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

It was Fleury’s second shutout of the season and his 75th in the NHL.

“Yeah, felt good,” Fleury said. “I didn’t do much back there. The guys were awesome. Lot of blocked shots. 'D' in front boxing out, taking rebounds. I thought we played solid. We didn’t give them much. So, it’s nice to get that one and celebrate the win.”

Kirill Kaprizov scored in his third straight game, and Zach Bogosian also scored for the Wild (33-27-7), who have won three in a row and are 5-0-1 during their point streak.

“This is the time where you have to play your best, when it matters the most,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “And I think lots of times there’s different segments in the season, but this is one where you’re playing meaningful games that you need to be able to play your best in those situations."

Lukas Dostal made 29 saves for the Ducks (23-40-3), who have lost four in a row and five of their past six.

“Like always, he’s just so good back there,” Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe said of Dostal. “Whenever we need him, he shows up. He was great.”

Bogosian gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 14:44 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer from just inside the blue line off a pass from Marco Rossi from behind the net and off the side boards.

Minnesota outshot Anaheim 15-2 in the second period.

Fleury denied Brett Leason on a partial breakaway at 2:08 of the second, and Matt Boldy came away with the loose puck and started a breakout.

Kaprizov then extended it to 2-0 nine seconds later off a centering feed from Ryan Hartman. Kaprizov has four goals during his goal streak, and 11 points (eight goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak.

“It’s easy when you start scoring more goals,” Kaprizov said. “It’s feeling better, and you feel better on the ice and locker room, everything. …It’s big time for us now, for the team. We still have chance to go in playoffs.”

Said Ducks coach Greg Cronin: “[Minnesota] blocked a lot of shots. They packed the inside third of the ice, and we couldn’t get them through. They were blocking them out at the blue line, they were blocking at the net, and they did a really good job keeping us to the outside.

“I think we played well. We just weren’t good enough tonight.”

NOTES: Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas left following a hit from Minnesota forward Marcus Johansson at 4:27 of the first period. There was no update. … Wild forward Marat Khusnutdinov led the Wild with four blocked shots in 11:54 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Fleury made his third straight start and is 9-2-0 with a 1.93 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in his past 13 games (11 starts).