In Ottawa, Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves and the Minnesota Wild scored a 4-2 win over the Senators on Thursday night. 
“I really liked the way that all four lines contributed in their own way,” Minnesota coach Dean Evason said, “but yet they all contributed in the same way as far as doing the right things — getting pucks deep, staying on the right side, not allowing odd-man rushes. I don’t remember an odd-man rush tonight. We were committed to doing the right things.”
Kirill Kaprizov picked up a goal and two points in the win.
“[Fleury] made some huge saves when he needed to, to keep the momentum going in our direction,” Evason said. “We just talked about how calm he looked. Obviously, he makes acrobatic saves, but for the most part, it’s a calming effect on our group.”
Alex DeBrincat scored to give the Senators a 1-0 lad in the first period, and Thomas Chabot scored in the third for Ottawa.
“He got that first one, so I owed him,” Fleury said. “Sometimes it’s worse when it’s guys that you played with, right? You kind of know their tendencies, but they know that you know, right? So, they switch it up or whatever. I just tried to react and stay patient. But he’s obviously a very talented player.
“I was in trouble there. As a goalie, to me, those are the fun saves to make. You see the players maybe put their head back or they get mad. Those are the fun ones.”
Chabot scored on a 5-on-3 power play.
“It wasn’t as crisp as we would have liked it,” DeBrincat said of Ottawa’s final power play. “That’s a big chance in the game to score a big one. We just didn’t pull through. We’ve got to be better in that sense and score there. That’s a big point in the game.”
Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman also scored for the Wild who had a 3-1 lead before the Chabot goal.
“Obviously it’s frustrating when you feel like there are some calls you don’t get,” Zuccarello said. “Right there, in the heat of the moment, it’s frustrating. But I think the guys on the [penalty kill] just kept it calm. Unbelievable [penalty kill] by the guys, just sacrificing, good sticks and blocking shots. It was a really good effort.”
Frederick Gaudreau added an empty net goal for the 4-2 final.
Anton Forsberg made 35 saves in the Sens loss.
“They came out hard [in the second],” Forsberg said. “We know how they play; they play hard and spend a lot of time in our zone and throw a lot of pucks at the net. I didn’t think I did quite a good job myself to have those rebounds. There were a bit too many for me I think. I want to hold on to those to give the guys a break, so I’m not really happy with that.”
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