Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 4, Ducks 3 (OT)

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 4-3 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Saturday night:

1. A comeback to remember ... again
The Wild has made a habit of coming back in games so far this season, running off a 4-0-0 start to the year (tied for the third-best start in franchise history). In all four of those victories, Minnesota has surrendered the first goal of the contest.

"Somebody said that's what we're trying to do, is keep the fans interested and draw them in. Certainly we'd like to do it a little bit earlier," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "Obviously, we'd like to start with a lead but again we love our resilience and we weren't good early. But they were real good, real good.
"I think it's just who they are, right? We talked to them after the game that it's one thing for us to stand on the bench or in between periods as coaches, come in and go, 'we're not doing the right things. We gotta simplify. We gotta shoot pucks.' But we don't have to say that and that's exciting for us because they've already said it all. They've said it all on the bench and they're saying the right things. Not only are they saying the right things it's one thing to talk, but they're doing out and doing it or at least trying and attempting to do the right things and shift their gears a little bit."
On Saturday, the Ducks got on the board shortly after puck drop, grabbing the lead just 1:18 into the contest. Minnesota would score the next two to grab the lead, but Anaheim would tie the game at 2-2 just 126 seconds after that.

Early in the second, the Ducks would again grab a lead, one they would hold for 10 minutes until Jon Merrill scored his first as a member of the Wild. And first goal in awhile; for Merrill, it was his first goal since pre-pandemic times ... Feb. 8, 2020, a span of 58 games.
It didn't come without a little nervousness, however. Anaheim challenged the goal for offsides. After a lengthy review, the goal was confirmed good on the ice.
Merrill was mobbed on the bench by his teammates.
"When you don't score often, your teammates get pretty excited when you do score," Merrill said. "I was just trying to mention to the refs that I haven't scored in a while, I could really use this one."

A scoreless third meant overtime for a second consecutive home game, and that's where the Wild capped its comeback, eschewing a power play in the extra session and instead scoring in the ensuing 4-on-4, as Ryan Hartman leapt over the boards on a line change, received a pass from Mats Zuccarello and flew down the left-wing wall, rifling his right-handed shot glove side under the crossbar for his second career overtime goal.

"It's tough on a goalie, a [righty] from the other side," Hartman said. "Having the glove, then you kind of pull and they kind of drop the glove, first reaction. Luckily he was pretty deep in the net. He couldn't really come out because of the quick transition there. And there was a lot of room up top."
2. One he'll remember
Wild forward Brandon Duhaime nearly scored his first NHL goal in his second NHL game in Los Angeles last weekend, but had it reviewed and eventually taken off the board.
That milestone goal came for real on Saturday night, but it came in a very unusual manner.
After the Ducks scored the initial goal of the game just over a minute in, Minnesota rallied to tie the game on Duhaime's ... unusual ... first NHL tally.

While Matt Dumba worked the puck over to Nico Sturm at the top of the left point, Duhaime was setting up shot near the top of the crease when he had his stick knocked out of his hands. As he bent down to pick up his twig, Sturm fired from the point, saw the puck deflect off a Duck, then off the unknowing Duhaime's skate in front of the net and past goaltender John Gibson, knotting the game.
Not the prettiest thing in the world, but perfectly effective ... and in the boxscore, they all look exactly the same, right?
"It's the ugliest first goal I've ever seen," Evason said. "He just looked up ... but it doesn't matter. He should have scored the other night and then he had another couple looks."
The goal was perfectly Duhaime though. Nothing the rookie forward does can be described as pretty or flashy, but through one week in the NHL, his gritty game has been really, really effective.
"The guys are giving me a hard time. They don't ask how, they just asked how many," Duhaime said. "Obviously I would have liked to go coast to coast and score my first goal, but I'll take that one for sure.

"After the rookie lap and that goal, I think it's all laughs in the locker room. But all jokes aside, I was excited to get the first one and get that big one there."
Hartman, who like Duhaime, had his first \apparent\ NHL goal taken away via replay, summed it up perfectly.
"They're only going to get prettier from here," Hartman said.
Even his first goal which was waved off was simple enough, a goal-mouth scramble which saw Duhaime jam and jam and jam away at a loose puck until it trickled across the goal line. Officials ended up ruling that Sturm had lifted the goaltender's pad, which is why it was waved off.
But Duhaime plays a simple, consistent game, which is why he seems destined to have a long NHL career. It's also why Evason has trusted the rookie to be on the ice in crucial late-game situations, like he was again on Saturday.
"It's one thing to have the coaches trust you," Evason said. "But you have to do the things in order to build that trust and he has."
Duhaime's goal came with both his mom and his dad in the Xcel Energy Center stands.
"I'll see them after, so it'll be nice to share that moment with them," Duhaime said.
3. Lucky number ... 9?
The Wild has had the Ducks' number in the year 2021, winning Saturday night, as well as eight days ago in Anaheim.
But Minnesota's success goes back further than that, as the Wild won each of the final seven meetings during the shortened season last year.

The last time Anaheim won a game against Minnesota was the third game of last season, the very first of eight meetings between the then-West Division "rivals," a game Anaheim won 1-0.
Since then, the Wild has outscored the Ducks 30-17 in rolling up nine consecutive victories, a stretch that marks the longest winning streak for either team in the history of the matchup.

It also ties the longest Wild winning streak versus any single opponent in franchise history, matching similar stretches against Montreal, Arizona and Chicago.
Overall, Minnesota is 11-1-1 in its past 13 games against the Ducks.
Not surprisingly, Minnesota's nine-game winning stretch marks its longest active winning streak against any other NHL club.

Loose pucks

• With his assist in the second period, Marcus Foligno extended his point streak to start the season to four games.
• Jared Spurgeon's first-period goal (his first of the season) was his 199th career point at even strength.
• Sturm and Dumba tallied assists on Duhaime's goal
• Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin had helpers on Hartman's winning tally.
• Wild goaltender Cam Talbot finished with 21 saves on 24 shots.
• John Gibson had 32 saves on 36 shots faced for the Ducks.
• Rickard Rakell had two goals to pace Anaheim.
• Ryan Getzlaf posted two assists, his third and fourth helpers of the season.

Dan's three stars

1. Ryan Hartman
   2. Brandon Duhaime
   3. Rickard Rakell

Highlights