Rookie goalie Kaapo Kahkonen made 31 saves in his first home start for the Wild, but it wasn’t enough as the Anaheim Ducks left Xcel Energy Center with a 3-2 shootout victory Tuesday night.
Kahkonen surrendered a pair of goals in the first period and then settled in to shut down the Ducks before giving up two goals in the shootout while the Wild couldn’t find the twine in the sudden death situation.
Minnesota had just one shot on goal in the first period.
Trailing 2-0 midway through the second period, Ryan Hartman scored to cut the deficit to 2-1. And just over two minutes into the third period the Wild tied the score 2-2 on Ryan Donato’s fifth goal of the season.
“It’s frustrating. I mean, the whole night was pretty frustrating, quite frankly,” head coach Bruce Boudreau said, via Wild.com. “To start out that first period like that, to get one shot on goal at home, it’s pretty embarrassing, and I told the guys that. I said, ‘Our first 10 games weren’t very good, like with the won-loss record, but nothing compares to what we did in the first period.'”
Minnesota, however, is 7-0-3 in its last 10 home games and hasn’t lost in regulation at home since the home opener against Philadelphia.
Mikko Koivu honored
The Wild captain was honored with a tribute for reaching 1,000 career games, and on hand to surprise the veteran forward – who did not play because of an injury – were former Wild teammates Niklas Backstrom, Nick Schultz, Marian Gaborik and Kyle Brodziak.
"When you think about the @mnwild, you think Mikko Koivu"
Koivu was honored in St. Paul tonight for reaching 1,000 games in his career. pic.twitter.com/DCnms9s24F
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) December 11, 2019
