Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello scored four seconds apart in the third period Friday to highlight the Minnesota Wild’s 7-3 rout of the Anaheim Ducks in Saint Paul, Minn.
Zuccarello had two goals and an assist, while Boldy and Ryan Hartman each notched a goal and an assist. Victor Rask, Matt Dumba and Kevin Fiala also scored, and Kirill Kaprizov had two assists for the Wild. Minnesota’s Kaapo Kahkonen made 39 saves to win his third consecutive start.
Max Comtois and Trevor Zegras logged a goal and an assist apiece for Anaheim, and Derek Grant also found the net.
Ducks goalie Anthony Stolarz was lifted 2:05 into the third period, having allowed three goals in that period and six on 29 shots overall. Lukas Dostal replaced him and stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced.
The Ducks lost for the third time in four games, while the Wild earned their third consecutive victory.
Boldy’s second goal of the season, 30 seconds into the final period, was followed by Zuccarello’s 11th of the season just four seconds later on an immediate steal-and-score following the center-ice faceoff. Rask then notched his fifth at 2:05 for a 6-1 lead.
The rapid-fire tallies by Boldy and Zuccarello set a franchise mark for fastest consecutive tallies against an opposing goaltender. Minnesota scored twice in a three-second span back in 2004, but the second goal of that sequence was an empty-netter. The NHL record for fastest goals is two seconds (including an empty-netter), by the Montreal Canadiens in 2018.
Following the Wild’s scoring barrage, Grant (fourth) and Zegras (10th) replied for the Ducks in the next four minutes. Dumba’s fourth capped the scoring at 11:47.
The Wild set the tone by scoring the game’s first two goals in a span of 1:27. Fiala’s eighth of the season, a transition goal off a Boldy assist, put Minnesota on top at 7:25 of the opening period. Hartman doubled the lead shortly thereafter with his 16th, slamming home a loose puck amid traffic in front of the net.
Comtois got the Ducks on the board at 11:39 of the first with his second, but Zuccarello responded at 14:59 with a blast from the left faceoff circle.
Anaheim concludes its two-game road trip Saturday at Chicago. Minnesota gets the weekend off before visiting the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
–Field Level Media
