Fiala

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 6-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Thursday night:

1. D-Lo does the dirty work
The momentum of the game shifted numerous times on Thursday, but perhaps no more than late in the second period after Vancouver had taken its first lead of the night on Elias Pettersson's goal with 3:51 left in the frame.
That goal came on the heels of a hit by the Canucks' Luke Schenn on Kirill Kaprizov, one the Wild did not like but one that was unpenalized by officials. Kaprizov was shaken up after the hit, but didn't miss any time.

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected

      Nicolas Deslauriers postgame vs Vancouver

      Needless to say, Nicolas Deslauriers didn't care for the hit, so after Pettersson scored, it was time for Schenn to atone.
      "Our game wasn't bad at that point. It's just I personally didn't like the hit on Kirill and after he kind of gave him a little shove there. It was too much," Deslauriers said. "He didn't want to [fight], but props to him. I gave him no choice."

      The fight charged the Wild bench, and a minute and a half later, Minnesota tied the game on Mats Zuccarello's goal.

      Video Player is loading.
      Current Time 0:00
      Duration 0:00
      Loaded: 0%
      Stream Type LIVE
      Remaining Time 0:00
       
      1x
        • Chapters
        • descriptions off, selected

          VAN@MIN: Zuccarello beats Demko with wrist shot

          It wouldn't trail again, scoring three times in the third period to pull away and all-but dash the Canucks' fading postseason hopes.
          "I think that stuff helps a lot," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "We don't want to encourage fighting in our game but it's there and it's part of it. I guess they thought maybe there were some liberties taken. Doesn't matter if it's Kirill or anybody else. I think D-Lo knows what he's doing."
          But Deslauriers wasn't done making an impact. With the Wild shielding a one-goal lead late in regulation, Deslauriers started a minute-long grinder for Minnesota in the offensive zone, first by gaining the puck and dumping it in, then forechecking the bejeezus out of the Canucks.
          It culminated later in the shift with Kirill Kaprizov finishing off a Ryan Hartman feed for a dagger of a goal with 1:55 remaining.

          Video Player is loading.
          Current Time 0:00
          Duration 0:00
          Loaded: 0%
          Stream Type LIVE
          Remaining Time 0:00
           
          1x
            • Chapters
            • descriptions off, selected

              VAN@MIN: Kaprizov buries quick shot in the slot

              Hartman himself would close things out with an empty-net goal 42 seconds after that to provide the final margin.
              Deslauriers didn't figure into the final scoring on Kaprizov's goal, but his workmanlike shift before that set the tone.
              "It's not just me on that, it's a line thing. A forecheck doesn't work with one guy, it's all three," Deslauriers said. "Our Ds were tight on that one, Jonny Merrill rimmed a puck and I just turned around and Hartzy was on there and just kept the puck in and changed. O-zone, I don't want to be there, I want Kirill to be there.
              "But it's a line thing, we were disappointed on that one we let go as a line, that first one. But it's always fun to have a good shift and then the top guns come on and they score. It feels good, but it's not just a one man thing, it's a line there."
              2. Fiala's still feelin' it
              With the game scoreless early in the second period, it's no surprise the guys that would get the offense going for the Wild would be the line of Matt Boldy, Freddy Gaudreau and Kevin Fiala.
              This line has been the best and most consistent grouping for a while now, and all three figured onto the scoresheet to get the party started in this one.
              It looked like Gaudreau might be the one to pull the trigger on the shot, cruising down the left wing side, but as he neared the top of the circle, he fed a beauty of a pass to Fiala at the right hashes for a quick one-timer past a sprawled Thatcher Demko for a 1-0 lead.

              Video Player is loading.
              Current Time 0:00
              Duration 0:00
              Loaded: 0%
              Stream Type LIVE
              Remaining Time 0:00
               
              1x
                • Chapters
                • descriptions off, selected

                  VAN@MIN: Fiala buries return feed from Gaudreau

                  For Boldy, it raised his point streak to seven games, which ties the longest by a rookie in team history (Marian Gaborik). His 36 points are also tied with Gaborik for second-most by a rookie in a season in franchise history.
                  And for Gaudreau, it got him back on the sheet after his five-game point streak was snapped in Montreal on Tuesday.
                  It was fitting then too that it was that group that would score the winning goal, with Fiala engaging the spin cycle and shooting past Demko at the 12:17 mark of the third, breaking a 3-3 tie and sending the Wild to its 11th win in its past 12 games on Xcel Energy Center ice.

                  Video Player is loading.
                  Current Time 0:00
                  Duration 0:00
                  Loaded: 0%
                  Stream Type LIVE
                  Remaining Time 0:00
                   
                  1x
                    • Chapters
                    • descriptions off, selected

                      VAN@MIN: Fiala skates around the net and buries shot

                      "That's guy's something. He's so gifted," Deslauriers said. "I think somebody ... when we got the puck and he got it behind the net, we're like, 'oh, there it is.' Sure did. He's a special player."
                      Fiala said he had a pretty good idea of what he was going to do to cap the play.

                      Video Player is loading.
                      Current Time 0:00
                      Duration 0:00
                      Loaded: 0%
                      Stream Type LIVE
                      Remaining Time 0:00
                       
                      1x
                        • Chapters
                        • descriptions off, selected
                        • captions off, selected

                          Kevin Fiala postgame vs Vancouver

                          "It was just a great o-zone shift. I think we're all, you know, it was quite a long time in there, and I had a lot of energy left and I thought maybe they were tired. Kind of nice play by Freddy there to me. I wanted to shoot it but I was like, maybe I can hold on to it and go around."
                          It worked out OK.
                          The goals for Fiala extended his point streak to eight games, a stretch in which he has nine goals and seven assists.

                          Video Player is loading.
                          Current Time 0:00
                          Duration 0:00
                          Loaded: 0%
                          Stream Type LIVE
                          Remaining Time 0:00
                           
                          1x
                            • Chapters
                            • descriptions off, selected
                            • captions off, selected

                              Dean Evason postgame vs Vancouver

                              "He's playing right, that's for sure," Evason said. "He's got a lot of confidence obviously. Again, what we like is he's been a great teammate through it all and he's done a lot of things defensively, verbally on the bench, penalty kill, in all areas of the game.
                              "I guess it's one thing to be on a heater individually scoring goals but you still have to do a lot of things to allow your team to have success. He's doing a lot of those as well."
                              3. Talbot reaches two hundred
                              In a bit of a surprise move, Evason broke the goalie-rotation-that-isn't-a-rotation on Thursday and went with Cam Talbot off a 26-save shutout in Montreal.
                              "It has been quite the rotation here. It's been going great so, you didn't know if he was going to mess with it or not," Talbot said. "But back-to-backs, you just never know if you're going to play the front end or the back end. I played the back end of it the first couple, so they must have just switched it up."
                              Talbot rewarded the coach's confidence with a solid 21-save performance that extended his personal point streak to 14 starts. During that span, he's gone 11-0-3 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He hasn't lost a start in regulation since March 1.
                              Talbot credited the team in front of him for the current run he's on.

                              Video Player is loading.
                              Current Time 0:00
                              Duration 0:00
                              Loaded: 0%
                              Stream Type LIVE
                              Remaining Time 0:00
                               
                              1x
                                • Chapters
                                • descriptions off, selected
                                • captions off, selected

                                  Cam Talbot postgame vs Vancouver

                                  "I get some of the wins and probably didn't deserve a couple of points that we got but they squeaked some out for me and there's time you have to go out there and battle and when I don't have it some nights, the guys battle harder for me," Talbot said. "That's the type of group we are, we pick each other up every single night. Playing behind this group, I think I'm just the beneficiary."
                                  The win for Talbot was his 31st of the season and 200th of his NHL career. He's just the 94th player in league history to reach that milestone.
                                  Not bad for the undrafted kid from the University of Alabama-Huntsville, who at 34 years old, was named an NHL All-Star for the first time this season.
                                  "I'd be lying if I said it didn't [mean anything]. The road that I took, the perseverance, the dedication, a lot went into making it this far," Talbot said. "These milestones, you kind of have a chance to look back and reflect on stuff like that and the journey along the way. Like you said, the biggest part tonight was the big two points for our group. It's just another big win for us."

                                  Loose pucks

                                  • Minnesota's 49 wins ties a franchise record, and with 105 points, the Wild is one shy of its best season ever
                                  • The Wild swept Vancouver in a regular season series for the first time ever
                                  • Minnesota is 10-2-1 in the first of back-to-back games this season
                                  • Jonas Brodin's assist gives him 29 points, a new career best
                                  • Nine of Gaudreau's 11 career multi-point games have come this season
                                  • Jon Merrill returned to the lineup after missing 10 games and registered an assist
                                  • Kaprizov and Zuccarello each registered a goal and two assists
                                  • Jared Spurgeon scored his 10th goal, becoming the first Wild defenseman to score double digit goals five times
                                  • Matthew Highmore also scored a goal for Vancouver
                                  • Demko finished with 26 saves

                                  Dan's three stars

                                  1. Kevin Fiala
                                    2. Kirill Kaprizov
                                    3. Nicolas Deslauriers

                                  Highlights

                                  Video Player is loading.
                                  Current Time 0:00
                                  Duration 0:00
                                  Loaded: 0%
                                  Stream Type LIVE
                                  Remaining Time 0:00
                                   
                                  1x
                                    • Chapters
                                    • descriptions off, selected

                                      Fiala scores twice to propel Wild over Canucks