PITTSBURGH — The night before Halloween, the Wild lost a disheartening home game versus Pittsburgh, finishing October with three wins in their first 12 games.
A clear sign of their ongoing November resurgence came Friday night in Pittsburgh, where Minnesota dominated those same Penguins on both ends of the ice, winning 5-0 and running their record to 8-1-1 in the season’s second month.
Matt Boldy had a pair of goals and an assist for the Wild, who got 19 saves from Filip Gustavsson and improved to 11-7-4 overall this season. Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each added a goal and assist for Minnesota. It was the Wild’s most dominant performance since a 5-0 win in St. Louis on the opening night of the regular season.
“I think tonight was solid from top to bottom,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I thought we played a fast game, whether that was skating fast, I thought we moved the pucks well, we executed, we played north.”
For Kaprizov, it was nothing new, as he now has at least a point in all eight of his career games versus the Penguins.
The game was not four minutes old when Boldy deposited the rebound of a Brock Faber shot. It was the franchise-record 11th consecutive game in which Minnesota has scored first.
Faber later admitted the 4-1 loss to the Penguins on Oct. 30 at home was on their minds.
“We’re a confident group, and you feel like you can beat any team in the league when you’re on, and they definitely didn’t see our best then, and I guess we didn’t see their best tonight,” he said. “But yeah, there was definitely some thought of that, that we definitely owed them a better one than we gave them back at home.”
A few minutes later, while battling Jake Middleton behind the Wild net, Blake Lizotte’s stick blade caught Middleton under the visor. The Wild defenseman dropped to the ice immediately, then went to the bench and down the tunnel with the aid of team trainers. Lizotte — the former Chisago Lakes and St. Cloud State standout — received a four-minute, high-sticking penalty.
The Wild needed all but 14 seconds of the extended man advantage to double their lead, when Eriksson Ek tipped a Zeen Buium shot between the Pittsburgh goalie’s pads. Scoring that late in the power play was a mental blow to the Penguins, and a boost to the Wild, Eriksson Ek said.
“It wasn’t the best, but we got one, it was a big one. After that, I think we controlled the game pretty well,” said Eriksson Ek, who has four goals this season. “It helps, creates energy, creates confidence, too. So, yeah, it’s good.”
Marcus Johansson made it 3-0 for the visitors later with his eighth goal of the season, firing a wrist shot through a crowd.
Pittsburgh did not get a puck through to Gustavsson on their only power play of the opening period, and managed just two shots on goal in the initial 20 minutes, including a wraparound by Sidney Crosby on the game’s opening shift.
“They’re close to the net and get the puck with him,” Gustavsson recalled. “It hit me, and I was aware a little bit where the puck went. And after that, as you said, it was pretty quiet.”
It was his second clean sheet of the season, and his first since that lopsided season-opening win versus the Blues.
Middleton returned for the start of the second period and made his presence felt right away, firing a shot that Kaprizov tipped to give the Wild a four-goal lead. That was all for Penguins starter Arturs Silovs, who was pulled after allowing a quartet of goals on 10 shots.
Sergei Murashov played the final 39 minutes in the Penguins’ net, finishing with 10 saves.
The Wild lost winger Vinnie Hinostroza in the second period after he was hauled down from behind while skating behind the Wild net. He left the game with some assistance and did not return.
Hynes said afterward that they are likely flying him back to Minnesota to meet with doctors there, instead of having Hinostroza continue on the current road trip.
Pittsburgh had been off the previous four days following a 1-0-1 trip to Stockholm, Sweden, where they played the Nashville Predators twice.
The Wild’s three-game, pre-Thanksgiving road trip makes its next stop in Winnipeg, where they will face the Jets on the road for the first time this season at 3 p.m. Sunday.