ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Frederick Gaudreau scored twice, including a long-distance empty netter, and Matt Dumba notched his third goal of the season as the Minnesota Wild won 4-1 on Wednesday over the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
Filip Gustavsson made 16 saves in net for Minnesota to improve his record to 6-4-1. Mats Zuccarello extended his point streak to eight games with a second-period goal for the Wild, who earned their third straight win.
“We’ve got two good goalies and we’re doing a lot of good things,” Zuccarello said. “Just have to stick with it even though I don’t think we played our best game today.”
Detroit goalie Magnus Hellberg made just his second start in net this year and sixth NHL start of his career Wednesday. He stopped 18 of the 21 Wild shots he faced.
The Red Wings pulled Hellberg with just over three minutes remaining in the third period but couldn’t break through with the extra attacker. Minnesota’s Ryan Reaves missed an empty netter after Hellberg was pulled.
Wednesday’s loss was the fourth in a row for Detroit.
Minnesota’s Ryan Reaves didn’t end up with a point but made a few notable plays for the Wild that set the tone early for what turned out to be a physical game. The veteran winger, acquired from the Rangers in a trade in late November, made a big open ice hit on Detroit defenseman Filip Hronek in the first period. Hronek remained on the ice for a minute before skating off and did not return to the game. No penalty was called on Reaves.
