If the Minnesota Wild does one thing this offseason, it should be to pay Kevin Fiala.
The Wild winger scored twice on Thursday night, helping Minnesota defeat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 and keeping their hopes alive for the second seed in the Central Division.
The Wild and Canucks skated through a scoreless first period before Minnesota got on the board first. With Fiala’s 31st goal of the season, the Wild took a 1-0 lead and capped off a frenetic five-minute stretch.
The BFF line is buzzing so much, there's honey on the ice 🐝🐝🐝#mnwild pic.twitter.com/zasXhm1m3l
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 22, 2022
Elias Pettersson scored his 12th goal of the year to tie things up for Vancouver. But the Wild rebounded with Jared Spurgeon’s 10th goal of the year. The Canucks took control again with goals from Matthew Highmore and Petterson but Minnesota tied the game again with a goal from Mats Zuccarello.
ZUCCY AND KIRILL 𝘈𝘓𝘞𝘈𝘠𝘚 PASS THE VIBE CHECK.#mnwild pic.twitter.com/6DNo3NIwcv
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 22, 2022
Heading into the final period in a 3-3 tie, it was time for Fiala to play the hero. Fiala’s second goal of the game put Minnesota up 4-3 and a late goal by Kirill Kaprizov and an empty-net marker from Ryan Hartman helped the Wild come away with the victory.
EDGE WORK SO NICE WE HAD TO WATCH IT TWICE
(FUNNY ENOUGH THAT'S HOW MANY TIMES HE'S SCORED TONIGHT) #mnwild pic.twitter.com/16PyOxh62Y
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 22, 2022
While Fiala’s contract status will be addressed this offseason, the Wild have more important matters at hand. Thursday’s win gave Minnesota 105 points on the season and placed them ahead of the St. Louis Blues.
St. Louis can tie the Wild later on Thursday night if they can beat the San Jose Sharks. But Minnesota has a chance to either regain the lead or add some cushion against the Seattle Kraken on Friday night.
