Minnesota Wild enforcer Ryan Reaves set the tone on Wednesday night, issuing a bone-jarring hit and winning a second-period fight to set the tone during a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings.
Reaves’s night started early as he delivered a bone-crushing hit to Detroit defenseman Filip Hronek just over three minutes into the game.
oh my good lord ryan reaves pic.twitter.com/2MjgsPW2tz
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) December 15, 2022
Any intimidation factor must have worked as the Red Wings were limited to just two shots in the first period and neither of them came after Reaves’s hit. Reaves struck again in the second period with another thunderous hit along the boards, prompting Ben Chiarot to throw a punch and ultimately get sent to the ice for his troubles.
Ryan Reaves is in bully mode tonight pic.twitter.com/euyyycEhXW
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) December 15, 2022
With Reaves hitting anything that moved, the Wild took advantage, getting on the board with Frederick Gadreau’s power play goal in the first period and a goal from Matt Dumba in the second period.
The Red Wings got back into the game with a second-period goal from Elmer Soderblom, but Mats Zuccarello scored from one knee 16 seconds later to put Minnesota up 3-1.
ZUCCY FROM HIS KNEES 😤#mnwild pic.twitter.com/Gp0nnvupii
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 15, 2022
Gaudreau scored his second goal of the night on an empty netter in the third period and the Wild picked up their third straight win. Minnesota will continue its four-game homestand when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.
