All the hype entering the season and the Minnesota Wild got routed at home by the New York Rangers 7-3 Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Minnesota went down 3-0 in the first period and despite peppering shots on goal they couldn’t get enough by all-world goalie Igor Shesterkin to keep up with the Rangers.
A power-play goal by Mats Zuccarello midway through the second period cut the deficit to two, but the Rangers responded and took a 4-1 lead into the third. That’s when the Wild and Rangers traded punches, with both teams scoring twice in a span of 2 minutes, 2 seconds.
Matt Boldy scored both for Minnesota in the back-and-forth period.
Marc-Andre Fleury allowed seven goals for the Wild, equaling the most he’s allowed in a game in his Hall of Fame career. To be fair, the defense in front of Fleury was “awful.”
“Our complete defensive game was awful,” said Wild coach Dean Evason.
Two goals from Matt Boldy were promising but the Rangers' offense was too much for Minnesota in a 7-3 loss for the Wild.#WildBreakaway presented by Luther Kia of Bloomington. pic.twitter.com/cJzwCFoIUu
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) October 14, 2022
Related: 5 bold predictions for the 2022-23 Minnesota Wild
