In St Paul, Jordan Greenway scored in the third period to snap a 2-2 with the Boston Bruins and help send the Minnesota Wild to a 4-2 on Wednesday night.
It was a particularly nasty game with the Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy stirring the pot.
“It was intense, a very intense hockey game,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “Lots of chirping. But lots of physicality. There were some big, big hits in that hockey game and we talk all the time about playoff hockey. That was playoff hockey.”
Cam Talbot made 24 saves in the Wild win.
“We defended in our zone really well,” Talbot said. “Anytime there’s a secondary opportunity, we’re there to clear them out. And on the other side, we’re getting pucks through, we weren’t getting blocked tonight, we had traffic at their net, and we’re able to pounce on some of those rebounds. And obviously, we’ve got a big goal there in the third by doing just that. So, just kind of got back to our recipe for success and it worked for us.”
Craig Smith and Brad Marchand were the Boston goal scorers.
“You wish you’d come out with two points, but there’s plenty more of those games down the road,” the Bruins’ Charlie Coyle said. “… It’s a tough team [to] play against [on] a back-to-back and they came hard. You can definitely feel that, but … the response is there. We battled back.”
Smith and Marchand rallied the Bruins back from an 0-2 deficit to the tie.
“It’s nice to get one, especially with ‘Bergy’ being out,” Marchand said. “That point of the game, it was nice, but unfortunately we didn’t close it out and that’s all that matters at the end of the day is if you get the points.”
Kirill Kaprizov hit for a double in the opening period to give the Wild the two-goal lead.
Ryan Hartman kicked in an empty-net goal to ice the game.
“We’ve just got to focus on what allowed us to eventually come out with a win tonight,” Greenway said. “… We’ve just got to stick to the game plan, keep it simple, stay patient, and find a way to bring that energy every night. It’s not easy to do, especially as the regular season comes to the end here. But we’ve got to continue to stay strong, find the energy, and build off it.”
Patrice Bergeron did not ice for the Bruins, he was reported with an upper-body injury.
“You can’t replace him, but I thought [Tomas] Nosek did a good job in the face-off circle for sure,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said after Nosek won 12 of 16 face-offs. “We won some draws, won one with the goalie out 6-on-5, that’s one we rely on ‘Bergy’ for.
Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves in the Boston loss.
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