As for the on-ice product, fans witnessed Team White come from behind to win 6-5 over Team Green in the three-on-three scrimmage.
Pat Maroon scored the game winner for Team White composed of forwards Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, Marco Rossi and Vinni Lettieri and defensemen Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Jon Merrill, Brock Faber and Daemon Hunt with Filip Gustavsson between the pipes.
On the other side, Team Green was composed of forwards Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman, Connor Dewar, Brandon Duhaime and Foligno and defensemen Jake Middleton, Calen Addison and Dakota Mermis with Marc-Andre Fleury in goal.
Marcus Johansson (maintenance), Freddy Gaudreau (upper-body injury) and Alex Goligoski (long-term injured reserve) were unavailable Sunday.
The Wild came to practice fresh off a 5-4 come from behind shootout win over the New York Rangers Saturday night inside Xcel Energy Center.
“Today would have been tough obviously if we wouldn’t have pulled that out yesterday, but we’re all glad we did and just looking to build on that,” Faber said. “It was good today (to) just kind of reset and have a little fun. Get to work, see the fans and yeah it definitely made it a lot sweeter that we got the win last night.”
The win ended the Wild’s four-game losing streak and the Rangers’ six-game winning streak. And just like each game, the Wild saw the support it has Sunday morning at practice.
“Obviously people from all over coming to support us and you know (when) that many people show up to a practice on a Sunday morning, that means a lot to us,” Faber said. “It’s really cool and shows the support we have in our state. A lot of Maple Grove jerseys I saw out there, so that was pretty cool as well, but yeah it was a lot of fun…and I’m glad we do things like this.”
And while this was Faber’s first outdoor practice with the Wild, the Maple Grove native has played plenty of hockey outside. The Wild’s 21-year-old rookie said he grew up with a rink in his backyard and played in a few outdoor games. The Minnesotan is enjoying life as a pro.
“It’s pretty cool; I can’t complain about much,” Faber said. “It’s a dream come true, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. Obviously, it’s tough, too; there’s pressure and obviously you want to win. So I think it’s been great overall, but hopefully next month, there’s a few more wins in there.”
The Wild (4-5-2) now look to continue their momentum this week on their three-game road trip in New York where they face the Islanders Tuesday, Rangers Thursday and Sabres Saturday.
“To win, I mean, we got to win hockey games,” Faber said. “Last night was a great start, but we have to build on that obviously, and I think when we play the right way — we’re a damn hard team to play against.”
And Sunday’s large crowd at practice, which ended with autographs, pictures and a few dozen pucks being thrown to fans, had to have helped.
