Defense optional: Wild storm past Canucks 10-7

Field Level Media|published: Mon 19th February, 17:15 2024

Feb 19, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) shoots as Vancouver Canucks right wing Conor Garland (8) defends in the second period at Xcel Energy Center. credits: Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each finished with three goals and three assists, and the Minnesota Wild set a franchise record for goals in a single game with a 10-7 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.

Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello each added a goal and three assists for Minnesota, which extended its points streak to six games in a row. The Wild scored one goal in the first period, two goals in the second and a whopping seven goals in the third to finish off their historic performance.

J.T. Miller tallied three goals and an assist to lead Vancouver. Pius Suter collected three assists for the Canucks, who have lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time since Nov. 16-18.

Minnesota scored six goals in a row to transform a 5-2 deficit into an 8-5 lead.

Nikita Zadorov and Brock Boeser scored for the Canucks to cut the deficit to 8-7 with 2:08 remaining.

Jonas Brodin notched an empty-net goal to make it 9-7 in favor of the Wild with 1:07 to go. That would have been enough to make history for Minnesota, which never had scored more than eight goals before, but Kaprizov added to the record in the final seconds with another empty-net goal.

Filip Gustavsson allowed five goals on 16 shots for the Wild before Marc-Andre Fleury replaced him for the third period. Fleury stopped six of eight shots and got the victory.

Casey DeSmith gave up eight goals on 25 shots for the Canucks.

The game started without too much bluster. Vancouver led 2-1 at the end of the first period.

The action picked up in the second period, as Vancouver pulled ahead 5-2 on Miller's third goal. Zuccarello scored on a power play with 33 seconds left to trim it to 5-3 at intermission.

The Wild erupted to start the third. They scored three goals in the first 1:44 to seize the lead for good.

The combined 17 goals scored between both teams also marked a franchise record for the Wild. Their previous highest-scoring game featured 13 goals between both teams.

The all-time record for goals in a game is 16, which was set by the Montreal Canadiens in 1919-20. Meanwhile, the all-time record for goals in a single period is nine, which the Buffalo Sabres scored against the Toronto Maple Leafs on their way to a 14-4 victory on March 19, 1981.

—Field Level Media