Game Recap: Wild 4, Flyers 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Kirill Kaprizov scored twice for the Minnesota Wild in a 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

Mats Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin each had an assist in his return from injury, and Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi also scored for Minnesota (20-6-4). Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves.

“I think it kind of was the right recipe, to come off a tough loss at home (7-1 against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday) and then everyone's a little bit ornery and wants to get back at it, and then you have those two guys come back in the lineup,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I think that also invigorates the group for sure.”

Zuccarello, who sustained a lower-body injury after being hit with a shot on Nov. 14, had missed the past 13 games. Brodin missed the past eight games with an upper-body injury.

“Obviously, it [stinks] to be injured, but it really helps when the team wins,” Zuccarello said. “All the boys are hustling and playing well. Obviously, you want to come back, but it's harder to be injured when you're losing. And that was not the case. It was fun to watch.”

Travis Sanheim scored for Philadelphia (14-13-4), which had won two in a row. Samuel Ersson made 19 saves.

“We didn’t finish,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “They finished on their chances. We had some high-quality chances, I think probably more than them. We don’t finish.”

Fleury kept it scoreless at 7:06 of the first period with a glove save as he went right to left across the crease and snagged Travis Konecny’s shot at full stretch.

“You know, like a forward loves scoring goals. I think it feels good for them, but for me, for goalies, I think when you can rob one and you see the guy's face … like, I don't know. I say it's good getting excited. It's fun,” Fleury said. “This one was late and because the guy was right in the slot, right? So, I felt like I still had to stay square to him because he could have shot too, so that's why I was a little late getting across. So, I got a little lucky but I’ll take it.”

Kaprizov gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 14:18 of the first period. Jon Merrill’s shot came back off the end boards and found Kaprizov below the right circle, who lifted a one-timer from a tight angle off Ersson’s helmet and in.

Boldy deked around Ersson on a breakaway and put the puck in at the left post off a lead pass from Brock Faber extended the lead 2-0 at 15:21 of the second period.

“Good play by Brock,” Boldy said. “Just tried to make him move and found a way to get it in.”

Rossi pushed it to 3-0 at 9:34 of the third period. Zuccarello took an outlet pass from Declan Chisholm and found a trailing Rossi for a wrist shot from the left circle.

Sanheim cut it to 3-1 at 14:18 with a snap shot from the top of the right circle, and Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal at 17:50 for the 4-1 final.

“Yeah, I liked our game,” Sanheim said. “Had chances. Obviously couldn't capitalize. They did on theirs. They’re a tough team to play against. They play a hard style and (would have been) really nice to capitalize a little bit more.

“I think both sides weren’t giving up a whole lot at times, being aggressive in the neutral zone, breaking up plays. And then, I thought in the third, being down, we created a lot more but overall, I liked our game. It’s unfortunate the result but move on, get ready for the next one.”

NOTES: Wild forward Yakuv Trenin did not play and is day-to-day with an upper body injury but is in contention to play when Minnesota hosts the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. … Minnesota forward Jakob Lauko left after the first period with a lower-body injury and is doubtful for Sunday. … The Wild matched their franchise mark for fewest games to 20 wins in a season (30 games in 2011-12).