Wild cruise past Panthers, extend point streak to 6

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello each had a goal and an assist, helping the Minnesota Wild defeat the Florida Panthers 5-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

The Wild are the second team in NHL history to not trail in regulation through its first six games. The 1969-70 Boston Bruins did it in their first seven.

Jake Middleton had three assists, Kirill Kaprizov had two assists, and Filip Gustavsson made 24 saves for the Wild (4-0-2), who have their second six-game point streak to begin a season. Minnesota opened the 2008-09 season 5-0-1.

“It was good,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I thought we had some strong maturity in our game. Coming into this building, the competitive level is a game where you have to win the hard areas -- wall plays, net fronts. You have to manage the puck really well because they are such a strong forecheck team.”

Sam Bennett scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 16 shots for the Panthers (4-3-1) before being replaced by Spencer Knight (six saves) to begin the third period. Florida had its four-game point streak end (3-0-1).

“There is an emotional level you have to get to, to play the way we play, or to play well in an NHL game and we were not there,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “When you have a game that across the board, your best players were not your best players, the coach didn’t get them right. … We weren’t anywhere near where we needed to be.”

Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals 22 seconds apart.

Marco Rossi scored at 11:40 when he deflected a shot in the slot from Kaprizov, and Marcus Johansson extended the lead at 12:02 by one-timing a pass from Boldy in the left face-off circle.

Boldy made it 3-0 on the power play at 1:40 of the second period, deflecting a point shot from Zuccarello.

“It was nice to get some goals. We know this team is streaky and good at home,” Zuccarello said. “Once they get one, they usually get a couple more. It was nice to get the momentum.”

Bennett cut it to 3-1 at 11:19 after Carter Verhaeghe’s centering pass went in off his right skate.

“Right at the start, I thought we looked pretty good,” Bennett said. “They got a couple there, and we got away from our game. We got off the forecheck, were a little too soft. We needed to be more physical, more engaged in the game.”

Zuccarello pushed it to 4-1 at 13:58. Kaprizov pulled Bobrovsky out of position by carrying the puck from the left side around the back of the net, then fed Zuccarello in the right circle for a one-timer.

Eriksson Ek skated onto the puck in transition and scored from the left circle to the far side at 16:05 for the 5-1 final.

Minnesota had no penalties.

“This is a nice start for the team,” Kaprizov said. “We have tried to not take penalties, play clean, and have good saves. Our goalie did that. We played smart.”

NOTES: Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk returned after missing the previous five games with an illness. He had an assist, two shots on goal and five hits in 16:49 of ice time. The assist was his 200th point (66 goals, 134 assists) with the Panthers in his 162nd game for Florida. The only others to reach the mark in 200 or fewer games with the Panthers are Pavel Bure (161 games) and Sam Reinhart (200). … Maurice signed a multiyear contract prior to the game. … Bobrovsky was seeking his 400th NHL victory. … Zuccarello’s assist on Boldy’s goal was his 200th with the Wild. Zuccarello became the fastest player in franchise history (330 games played) to hit the mark (Mikko Koivu, 400). … Minnesota scored first for the sixth consecutive game.