Fiala scores twice for Wild in win against Ducks

ANAHEIM --Kevin Fiala had two goals and an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 5-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Saturday.

Fiala has six goals this season, which have all been scored in the past seven games.
"Especially tonight, I felt my game was where it's supposed to be so I have to try to keep going," Fiala said.

Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist and Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves for the Wild (8-6-0), who won 3-1 at Anaheim on Thursday.
"I think it was a good game," Zuccarello said. "Second period was a little off but we got a nice win, so I think everyone is real happy about two in a row. We can't complain [about] that."
David Backes scored for the Ducks (6-9-3), who have lost three in a row and were held to two goals or fewer for the 14th time this season. John Gibson made 24 saves.
"Not a fun day for anyone," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. "You're got a choice to make, and we've just got to keep moving forward and stay gritty and work our way out of this."
Fiala, who skated on a new forward line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway, outraced Ducks defenseman Ben Hutton and scored on a wrist shot to make it 2-0 at 16:17 of the first.
Fiala then gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead at 3:00 of the second period when he converted a rebound for a power-play goal. He later surrendered a chance for a hat trick and instead passed to a trailing Eriksson Ek, who scored at 14:26 of the third for the 5-1 final.
"When Kevin Fiala is a good teammate and he's sharing the puck and he's playing within the system and doing all those right things, Kevin Fiala has success," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "We're very encouraged with how he played. His attitude, his demeanor, his body language on the ice and on the bench was real good."
Zuccarello one-timed a pass from Kaprizov to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 15:07 of the first period.

It was Zuccarello's third game back after he missed the first 11 due to offseason arm surgery. He has a goal and two assists since his return.
"We have struggled to score goals, and when you can add somebody who is an offensive player, it adds obviously to something we were missing," Evason said of Zuccarello. "He's done that in the three games."
Backes made it 3-1 at 16:29 of the second period when he redirected a slap shot from Josh Mahura.
Minnesota restored its three-goal lead when Victor Rask scored at 5:45 of the third to make it 4-1. It was his first game since Feb. 2 after being on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list.
"Dallas has said it a couple of times that he's encouraged by how we've shown we can play, but I think we're at a point where enough's enough and we've got to show we can do that for 60 minutes and that we're willing to invest that energy, that work ethic, that sacrifice for each other so that we can get the result we need," Backes said.
With two assists, Kaprizov has scored 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 14 games and has reached double digits in points in the fewest games by a Wild rookie in their history.
"[Kaprizov] is a smart player," Zuccarello said. "It's the first time I played with him, so it's going to take some time to get to know the kid, but he's a great kid on and off the ice and it's a pleasure to play with him and hopefully we'll get some chemistry."
NOTES: Fiala has eight goals in 12 career games against the Ducks. … Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin also played for the first time since Feb. 2 after coming off the NHL COVID-19 list. He had two shots on goal in 20:30 of ice time. … Rask won 13 of 14 face-offs (92.9 percent) and was plus-1 in 14:52. ... Ducks center Adam Henrique did not play after he was placed on waivers before the game. Henrique led Anaheim in goals (26) and points (43) last season. ... Mahura was called up from San Diego of the American Hockey League to replace defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who sustained a lower-body injury Thursday. He is day to day.