Fourteen goals allowed in two games to begin the season is not what the Minnesota Wild had in mind, but that’s reality as Marc-Andre Fleury and company have been gouged by the Rangers and Kings and are now staring down a Monday matchup with the defending champion Avalanche.
Saturday’s 7-6 home loss featured plenty of offense from Minnesota as Mats Zuccarello, Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jacob Middleton, Marcus Foligno and Sam Steele all found the back of the net, but Fleury and backup Filip Gustavsson couldn’t stop anything.
Fleury, who gave up all seven goals in Minnesota’s season opener against the Rangers, surrendered four goals and was pulled after the first period. He made just 10 saves on 14 shots. Gustavsson made 17 saves and allowed three goals.
“I’d boo myself,” Fleury said. “I was not good. I feel bad for the fans. I feel bad for my teammates. I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to step up and give our team a chance to win. I think there’s some tough goals. A few of them. Still, I’ve got to make some saves. Especially the stupid last one there.”
But it’s not all on the Minnesota goalies.
“Sometimes we play defense like we’re a … junior team. It’s the whole team. We’ve got to sharpen up,” Zuccarello said.
“Everybody struggled, right? You get seven goals scored on, your team struggles,” Wild head coach Dean Evason said. “To pin it on one guy or one guy didn’t play well from the goalie out … everybody didn’t play well, or else we would have not given up seven goals.”
Fleury has allowed 11 goals on 49 shots. His next chance to get back on track is Monday against the Avalanche, who smoked the Blackhawks with five goals in their first game and then fell 5-3 at Calgary on Thursday.
Colorado will be on three full days rest when they play the Wild Monday night.
