Sports

/

ArcaMax

Wild drop game to Rangers into overtime, 5-4

Sarah McLellan, Star Tribune on

Published in Hockey

NEW YORK — The Wild have enough trouble on offense as it is.

They don’t need to make life tougher on themselves.

But that’s what happened Thursday night against the Rangers, the Wild getting blitzed on two turnovers and having one of their own goals called back because of goaltender interference in a 5-4 overtime loss at Madison Square Garden that continued their late-season slide.

They’ve dropped three in a row and five of their past six but tied the Blues at 89 points to reclaim the first wild card in the Western Conference; the Wild own the tiebreaker because they have more regulation wins.

New York’s Vincent Trocheck scored the final go-ahead goal 24 seconds into overtime after Marco Rossi delivered the equalizer just 22 seconds into the third period to atone for a messy second by the Wild after a solid first-period effort left them ahead 2-1.

First, K’Andre Miller snuck a shot over goaltender Filip Gustavsson and under the crossbar 2:51 into the second to even the score.

Then, Chris Kreider connected on a backhander at 7:21 after Declan Chisholm bobbled the puck next to the Wild net — forcing Gustavsson into a save, with Kreider collecting the rebound; this was Chisholm’s first game back since getting hurt March 24 vs. the Stars.

But both sides were making mistakes with the puck and getting punished for it.

Take Trocheck’s giveaway during a New York power play that led to a Marcus Johansson short-handed goal set up by Gustav Nyquist at 9:50 after the two combined on the Wild’s first goal. Johansson racked up three points.

The Wild capitalized next, too, when Mats Zuccarello drained a rebound behind goalie Igor Shesterkin, but the goal was waved off because Ryan Hartman bumped into Shesterkin.

Another steal, this time by the Rangers after Miller slashed Rossi, regained the lead for New York after Artemi Panarin buried a breakaway with 1:04 remaining in the second period.

Again, the Wild responded after their miscue.

 

Unlike the previous goal, Rossi was the beneficiary of a turnover and after he passed off to Matt Boldy, Rossi poked in the rebound for his 23rd goal of the season.

A series of penalties ensued, mostly against the Wild, but neither power play took advantage; the Rangers went 0 for 4, while the Wild finished 1 for 2.

Trocheck made up for his earlier gaffe in overtime, directing in a Panarin feed to thwart the Wild’s comeback.

Despite getting severely outshot in the first period, the Wild were in control after going 1 for 2 and 2 for 4 on their limited looks.

They converted on the power play nine minutes into the period when Johansson found Nyquist at the back post for a redirect that caromed off the post and Shesterkin’s left skate before rolling into the net; the play started when Zuccarello intercepted a Rangers clear, a preview of what was to come.

Braden Schneider answered back at 12:45 when he polished off a rebound, but the tie didn’t last long; Brock Faber sunk a five-hole shot behind Shesterkin (20 saves).

Gustavsson made 17 of his 34 saves in that period, the goalie returning to the crease after the Wild’s 3-2 shootout loss Monday to the Devils.

Their road trip concludes Friday vs. the Islanders and without Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek.

They’ve returned to Minnesota after Kaprizov met with his doctor and received “positive feedback,” coach John Hynes said.

Kaprizov, who is recovering from surgery on a lower-body injury, is going to begin the next phase of his rehab, which includes taking contact. The Wild are hopeful he will suit up before the regular season ends April 15, but Hynes said he doesn’t have a specific date for a return.

As for Eriksson Ek, the team is also hopeful he will be back; he’s been out with a lower-body injury that would sideline him six to eight weeks, Hynes said, and the upcoming week is the sixth.


©2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus