Joel Eriksson Ek helps spark Wild comeback win against Bruins

Field Level Media|published: Sat 23rd December, 22:04 2023

Dec 23, 2023; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild right wing Brandon Duhaime (21) and Boston Bruins center Jakub Lauko (94) fight in the first period at Xcel Energy Center. credits: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Eriksson Ek registered a goal and an assist in the second period as the Minnesota Wild came from behind to complete a season sweep of the visiting Boston Bruins with a 3-2 win on Saturday night.

Kirill Kaprizov and Marcus Foligno also scored for Minnesota, which has won three in a row and six of seven.

Kaprizov has four goals and two assists over his last three games, including the first of two consecutive overtime game-winners in the Wild's 4-3 win Tuesday at Boston.

Minnesota finished with a 35-21 shots advantage and went 1-for-5 on the power play.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves.

David Pastrnak opened the scoring for the Bruins, joining a 20-goal club that included three other NHL players entering Saturday. He also became the sixth Bruin in franchise history to do so in eight consecutive seasons.

Morgan Geekie also tallied for the Bruins, who dropped their season-high fourth straight (0-2-2) despite Linus Ullmark's 32-save effort.

Pastrnak converted on Boston's second shot on goal at the 2:37 mark. Just 25 seconds into an early power play, the star winger cycled into the left circle and buried his hard shot off Charlie McAvoy's one-time feed.

After being held to five first-period shots, Minnesota followed with a hard response in the middle frame, piling up a 19-6 edge in shots en route to scoring twice.

Nine of the first 10 triggers in the period belonged to the Wild, and Eriksson Ek's tying goal — his team-leading 15th of the season — came eight seconds into a man advantage on a third-effort chance at the net front at 5:57. Boston defender Brandon Carlo had the ultimate deflection.

A key end-to-end swing resulted in the hosts taking their first lead 1:25 after Eriksson Ek's goal. Following Fleury's second stop of a Geekie breakaway, Kaprizov held the zone and then slid down the slot to redirect Alex Goligoski's center past Ullmark.

Ullmark made multiple stops during Minnesota's fourth power play early in the third, but just after the penalty expired, Pat Maroon centered to Foligno to finish the insurance goal in the blue paint at 3:10.

The Bruins trimmed their deficit to 3-2 when Geekie corralled Danton Heinen's one-time feed to the slot with 6:07 left.

—Field Level Media