Wild Hang On, Take Down Hurricanes 2-1

The Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes faced off for the final time in the regular season on Thursday evening, Feb. 6. Their previous meetup was just over a month prior, and it went in favor of the Wild 4-0 on the road. Against the Hurricanes, the Wild were still missing Kirill Kaprizov, who was recovering from surgery, and Jakuk Lauko, who has bounced off and on the injured list all season, plus Ryan Hartman, who was on game two of his ten-game suspension. 

The Hurricanes were missing William Carrier, Tyson Jost, and Jesper Fast due to injuries. In the net was Filip Gustavsson for the Wild and Frederik Andersen for the Hurricanes. The game got off to a bit of a slow start, but the Wild were the first on the board early in the game, and although the Hurricanes had chances, the Wild held them off for the 2-1 win. This moved the Wild’s record to 32-19-4 and the Hurricanes to 32-19-4. 

Game Recap

The game lacked a little jumpstart at the beginning, but it didn’t take long for the Wild to get on the board with a goal by Yakov Trenin just a few minutes into the opening period. Marat Khusnutdinov and Zach Bogosian assisted him to put their team up 1-0. There were some close calls for the Hurricanes, but the Wild held the lead through the end of the period. 

There was no scoring in the second period despite some chances for both sides, including a penalty shot for the Hurricanes. Jackson Blake was interfered with enough for the referees to determine a penalty shot was needed, and he looked like he had Gustavsson beat but fumbled the puck, and Gustavsson made the save to keep it 1-0 Wild. 

The Wild recorded another early goal, this time in the third period. It was originally deemed no goal but the play was overturned and after some chaos in front of the net the goal was given to Vincent Hinostroza. It was his first Wild goal in his debut game to give his team a 2-0 lead. Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin assisted him. The Hurricanes found their way onto the scoreboard late in the third as Sebastian Aho scored to get his team within one. Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov assisted him to make it 2-1. There were some big chances at the end but the Wild held tough and got the 2-1 win.

The Wild will remain at home for one more game before going on break for the 4 Nations Faceoff. They will host the New York Islanders on Saturday evening, Feb. 8. The Hurricanes will also be back at home to host the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday.