12/12 vs Edmonton (16-12-0) WIN 2-1
Fleury stopped 20 shots on his way to his 10th win of the season. Matt Boldy scored one and had a helper on the way to the Wild winning 2-1. The defense played better than it did in the middle of the week last week. The offense was able to muster enough to push the Wild to victory. It is the 18th time in his career that Fleury has reached double-digit wins, tying Patrick Roy and Terry Sawchuk for second all-time behind Martin Brodeur (20). Boldy had his sixth multi-point game of the season and 15th overall. Per NHL Stats, only Marian Gaborik (43) recorded more with the Wild before age 22. Wild RW Mats Zuccarello had an assist on Boldy’s goal and has 10 consecutive seasons with at least 20 assists.
12/14 vs Detroit (13-8-6) WIN 4-1
Filip Gustavsson made 16 saves in net for Minnesota to improve his record to 6-4-1. Frederick Gaudreau scored twice to help the Wild win for the third time in a row. Mats Zuccarello extended his point streak to eight games with a second-period goal for the Wild. Ryan Reaves is the enforcer we traded for as he laid out Detroit Defenseman Filip Hronek. Reaves earned his first fight in a Wild sweater after Ben Chiarot hit him up high. Gustavsson is now 5-0-0 with a 1.37 goals-against average in his last five games.
12/16 vs Chicago (7-15-4) WIN 4-1
The Wild ended the week a much-needed 3-0 with the win against the Blackhawks. Goaltending and defense was much better this week as they only allowed 3 goals in 3 games. Mats Zuccarello had three goals and an assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots. In 13 games since the Wild moved Sam Steel onto the first line with Mats and Kirill that line has scored 19 goals, the Wild are 10-3 in that stretch. At 35 years old, Zuccarello became the oldest player in franchise history with a hat trick. Zuccarello has six goals and eight assists during his point streak, which is one shy of his career-best stretch. The Wild have a power-play goal in five straight games. They are 18 of 53 on the power play at home, the second-best mark in the NHL. Minnesota is tied for first in the NHL with seven wins and 14 points in December (7-2-0).
The Wild are now 17-11-2 on the season
Next week’s schedule for Wild
12/18 vs Ottowa (13-14-2)
12/21 @ Anaheim (8-20-3)
12/22 @ San Jose (10-16-5)
Phil Kujawa