Passes Roy with 552nd victory, Eriksson Ek scores twice for Minnesota
Recap: New York Islanders @ Minnesota Wild 1.15.24
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Marc-Andre Fleury moved into sole possession of second place on the NHL’s all-time wins listing when he made 21 saves for his first shutout of the season for the Minnesota Wild in a 5-0 win towards the New York Islanders on Monday.
Fleury, whose win was his 552nd, tied Patrick Roy for second with a 4-3 win on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 6. Martin Brodeur has probably the most wins in NHL historical past with 691.
“Lastly, proper? It’s been a bit of tough currently,” Fleury stated. “I want we might have carried out this a short while in the past, proper? However I feel everyone is aware of, everybody on this room, that we attempt to work our greatest and attempt to win video games, climb our means again, proper, and tonight that was an ideal recreation towards a very good workforce and we acquired that one.”
Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice, and Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Foligno every had a purpose and an help for Minnesota (18-20-5), which had misplaced 4 in a row.
“I believed it was a very good, stable recreation,” Wild coach John Hynes stated. “I feel we cleaned up lots of areas that we felt within the final four-game stretch had been main points, and tonight the gamers did an ideal job of executing and enjoying the sport the precise means.”
NYI@MIN: Fleury earns his 552nd profession win, 74th shutout
Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 of 32 pictures earlier than he was changed by Kenneth Appleby, who made six saves in his first look of the season for New York (19-14-10), which has misplaced two in a row and is 2-5-1 in its previous eight.
“I simply didn’t like our effort in any respect,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert stated. “I didn’t assume we had been one hundred pc dedicated to enjoying the sport the precise means proper from the beginning and it simply sort of snowballed as we went alongside.”
Zuccarello gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead on the facility play at 2:11 of the primary interval with a wrist shot from the highest of the left circle.
“Nicely, I rating as soon as each 20 video games, so it is good to get one from time to time,” Zuccarello stated. “I feel we performed a stable workforce recreation. Everybody contributed, whether or not it was a block shot, a purpose, PK, ‘Flower’, every thing. That’s the workforce recreation now we have to play, and hopefully we will construct on that and get on a run right here. We’ve got a troublesome stretch developing.”
Connor Dewar made it 2-0 at 2:18 of the second interval, profitable the puck from Islanders ahead Simon Holmstrom within the offensive zone and beating Sorokin with a wrist shot from the slot.
Eriksson Ek scored his team-leading sixteenth purpose of the season with a tip in on the facility play at 13:36 to make it 3-0.
Minnesota outshot the Islanders 20-3 within the second interval.
“We didn’t do something very properly tonight,” Islanders captain Anders Lee stated. “They had been on prime of us fairly a bit and we couldn’t get to our recreation. I feel our effort must be elevated and we have to have a greater exhibiting. We acquired to get (mad). I imply, there’s lots of little issues that add as much as a poorly performed hockey recreation.”
NYI@MIN: Eriksson Ek snaps dwelling SHG for second purpose of recreation
Appleby began the third interval, making his first look since Jan.25, 2018, for the New Jersey Devils in a 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators.
“Sorokin had seen sufficient rubber,” Lambert stated. “I believed he got here [in] and did nearly as good a job as he might do.”
Eriksson Ek prolonged the result in 4-0 with a short-handed purpose at 16:09 of the third. Foligno received the puck at heart ice from Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson and fed Eriksson Ek, who beat Appleby with a wrist shot from the precise circle on a 2-on-1 rush.
Foligno scored at 19:03 for the 5-0 remaining. Jonas Brodin’s go from the left level discovered Frederick Gaudreau on the backside of the precise circle, and Gaudreau fed Foligno on the left put up for a faucet in.
“That was us,” Foligno stated. “I feel we truthfully simply snapped out of it a bit of bit. Jonas Brodin, all of us understand what he does. He breaks out the puck quite a bit. He’s again there so rapidly, so we acquired him again there. It makes guys settle. Guys had been making higher performs. That’s what we’d like. We wanted a bit of extra performs from guys, and we acquired it. It was particular that we performed the way in which we did.”
NOTES: The Wild received its sixth straight recreation towards the Islanders courting again to Nov. 7, 2021. … Brodin had an help, three pictures and was plus-two in 20:06 of ice time in his first recreation after lacking the previous 17 with an upper-body harm. … Wild defenseman Brock Faber recorded his nineteenth help of the season and handed Connor Bedard (18) for sole possession of first place amongst NHL rookies. … Appleby’s final NHL look was 2181 days in the past, the seventh-longest span between appearances for a goaltender within the NHL’s growth period (1967-68).
