Frederick Gaudreau scored two goals and the Minnesota Wild won their third straight game by downing the visiting Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Wednesday night.
Matt Dumba and Mats Zuccarello had the other goals for Minnesota, which has given up just two goals during the streak. Filip Gustavsson made 16 saves while recording his fifth consecutive victory.
Magnus Hellberg, making his first Red Wings start this season after being claimed off waivers, stopped 18 shots. Elmer Soderblom, just recalled from the American Hockey League after an injury rehab assignment, scored the lone goal for Detroit. The Red Wings are winless in their last four games.
Detroit defenseman Filip Hronek left the game in the first period after taking a blindside hit from Ryan Reaves. The Red Wings were already without center and team captain Dylan Larkin, who suffered a hand injury in a 1-0 loss to Carolina on Tuesday and did not make the trip.
The Red Wings had only two shots on goal in the first period as Minnesota took a 1-0 lead.
Detroit’s Lucas Raymond was whistled for tripping Samuel Walker at 12:44. The Wild cashed in as Gaudreau lifted a shot over Hellberg’s right shoulder for his sixth goal. Sam Steel and Jared Spurgeon collected the assists.
Dumba beat Hellberg on the stick side for his third goal eight minutes into the second period. He benefited from a nifty pass by Jordan Greenway, who won a puck battle along the boards. Joel Eriksson Ek had the second assist.
Soderblom scored his third goal after making a steal in the Wild zone. Adam Erne returned the puck from behind the net and Soderblom scored in front.
Minnesota made it 3-1 only 16 seconds later and with little more than one minute left in the period. Zuccarello scored his 10th goal from his knees, firing the puck between Hellberg’s pads. Kirill Kaprizov collected the assist.
Gaudreau clinched the Wild’s victory on an empty-netter with 42 seconds remaining. Marcus Foligno had the assist.
–Field Level Media