Rink Rule: Canes/Islanders vs. Wild

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild, one of the NHL’s best road teams this season, returned home last week after getting shut out in back-to-back games at Ottawa and Boston. The losses were uncharacteristic for a Wild team that is 20-7-3 on the road this season. Then they had two games remaining at Xcel Energy Center, where their record hovers around .500, before a couple of weeks off for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The Wild went into the break with momentum, defeating Carolina 2-1 on Thursday and securing a comeback 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Here are five rules recapping the Wild’s back-to-back home wins before the break:

1. The Wild have won two consecutive games – in regulation – at home for the first time this season.

The Wild came into Saturday’s game with a 12-12-1 record at home. This season has brought some rough outings in the building, including a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 5, a 7-1 loss to Edmonton on Dec. 12 and a 6-1 loss to Florida on Dec. 18.

Minnesota came home reeling after a 6-0 drubbing in Ottawa followed by a 3-0 loss to the Bruins, so it was no doubt looking for some momentum before the break.

So, what changed over the last couple of games to get a couple of home victories?

“Pucks went in,” Wild captain Jared Spurgeon quipped. “No, I feel like, we’ve had games where we played well here. And it just hasn’t gone our way.”

Boldy said it was just the Wild getting to their game.

“The home record is what it is, I think we know that,” said forward Matt Boldy. “And to be able to turn it around and get those two wins versus two good teams that are playing really good hockey right now is huge for us. And we wanted to go into break on a high note.”

2. Yakov Trenin scores in back-to-back games.

It’s no secret that injuries and jumbled lineups have been a significant running storyline for the Wild this season, and that’s been especially true with superstar Kirill Kaprizov out for multiple weeks following surgery for a lower-body injury. The Wild need to make up that scoring from somewhere, so it’s always a welcomed sight when bottom-six forwards contribute.

Yakov Trenin gave the Wild a 1-0 lead against Carolina less than three minutes into the game, with the puck coming to him out front on a pretty feed from Marat Khusnutdinov. That goal was a sigh of relief for the Wild, after those back-to-back shutout losses.

“It was a very big goal,” Trenin said. “Especially, few games before, we couldn’t get the lead.”

Against the Islanders, he scored again, finding himself in a good spot for a deflection in front of the crease. It turned out to be the game-winner. His fifth and sixth goals of the season gave him a chance to bring out his celly vibes. He threw himself into the end glass after Thursday’s goal, while Saturday’s tally got him to raise both arms in the air in triumph.

3. Vinnie Hinostroza scores a game-winning goal in his Wild debut against Carolina.

Last week, Ryan Hartman was handed a 10-game suspension. The Wild have consistently played shorthanded this season, but they claimed Vinnie Hinostroza off waivers from the Nashville Predators last week. With 388 career NHL games across 10 seasons with six other teams, Hinostroza made his Wild debut against Carolina.

He also became the 31st player to score a goal in his Wild debut. Against a good Carolina team, the Wild were clinging to a 1-0 lead through two periods. But 49 seconds into the third period, Hinostroza doubled the team’s lead, getting credit for a gritty, greasy goal around the crease.

The puck bounced around off goaltender Frederik Andersen’s back and eventually across the goal line as Hinostroza and Marcus Foligno crashed the net. The play was reviewed but the goal stood.

“I kind of felt like it was because I was right there after I tipped it,” Hinostoza said. “But I saw Moose celly, so I don’t know if he got under the goalie there and stuff. Once I saw the replay, I kind of knew.

“It felt like we had a really good game as a line. We had a lot of opportunities, so that was a lot of fun.”

Hinostroza was on the right wing with Foligno and Gaudreau on the third line. With the final 2-1 score, he also became the eighth Wild player to score a game-winning goal in their Wild debut.

Wild coach John Hynes said Hinostroza played well.

“Good speed, he’s tenacious on the puck, his abilities to make some plays and, you know, plays the game smart,” Hynes said. “He did a nice job.”

4. Matt Boldy helped spark a second-period turnaround with 3 Wild goals in a 5:29 span against New York.

The Wild grabbed a 1-0 lead against the Islanders early in the first period on Marco Rossi’s 19th tally of the season, with a primary and pretty assist from Boldy. But the lead didn’t last long. It was 13 seconds before Palmieri tied the game. The game was knotted at 1-1 at the first intermission, but the Islanders came out flying in the second while the Wild looked like it was already looking ahead to the break.

“For us, we knew that that wasn’t good enough, and that that wasn’t going to win us the game,” Boldy said.

It became the Minnesota show, in a way, as Warroad’s Brock Nelson scored 28 seconds into the second period to give the Islanders the lead. Edina product Anders Lee made it a two-goal margin about seven minutes later.

But in the second half of the period, the Wild picked it up. They also benefitted from a tough-luck night for Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo.

First, Gaudreau made it 3-2 with 6:39 left in the period with a power-play goal. The shot deflected off of DeAngelo. Then just after the last TV timeout of the period with 2:01 on the clock, the Wild tied the game 3-3 on a goal credited to Boldy after he tipped in a Jonas Brodin blast from long range.

Trenin’s go-ahead goal came 51 seconds later.

“We stood mentally strong,” Trenin said. “We didn’t get down after that third goal. And the power play came up huge, scored a big goal and kept us in the game, give us some momentum.”

The Wild are 22-0-0 this season when leading after the second period.

5. Filip Gustavsson needed a breather.

Goaltender Filip Gustavsson was so spent after the 2-1 victory over Carolina that he was hunched over in his crease as the line of teammates congratulated him for the effort after the win. No, he wasn’t hurt.

“You just try and breathe as much as you can and move and get something to your brain so you can keep focused,” Gustavsson said. “Usually we’re very happy and then talk to each other when they come down. I just had to catch my breath two seconds first there.”

Gustavsson made 38 saves and nearly had a shutout before Carolina’s Sebastian Aho scored late in the game. Gustavsson also kept them off the board in the second period when Jackson Blake had an unsuccessful penalty shot attempt. Gustavsson is 4-1-0 with a 1.40 goals-against average and .954 save percentage in five career starts versus Carolina.

He followed up that performance with 31 saves against the Islanders to take back-to-back wins into the 4 Nations tournament.

For the season, Gustavsson is 22-11-3 with a 2.63 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and three shutouts.