Wild take two from Anaheim

In Anaheim, the lack of offense continues to haunt the Ducks this season.  On Saturday night, their defense eluded them as well as the Minnesota Wild hung a five spot on them in a 5-1 loss.

Kevin Fiala struck for two goals for the Wild.

“Especially tonight, I felt my game was where it’s supposed to be so I have to try to keep going,” Fiala said.

Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves in the win.

David Backes was the only Duck skater to crack the scoresheet.

“Not a fun day for anyone,” Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. “You’re got a choice to make, and we’ve just got to keep moving forward and stay gritty and work our way out of this.”

That’s an understatement as the Ducks have gone 14 games this season scoring two or fewer goals.

Fiala has picked up six goals this season, all coming in the last seven games.

“When Kevin Fiala is a good teammate and he’s sharing the puck and he’s playing within the system and doing all those right things, Kevin Fiala has success,” Wild head coach Dean Evason said. “We’re very encouraged with how he played. His attitude, his demeanor, his body language on the ice and on the bench was real good.”

Mats Zuccarello picked up gus first goal of the season.

“I think it was a good game,” Zuccarello said. “Second period was a little off but we got a nice win, so I think everyone is real happy about two in a row. We can’t complain [about] that.”

The Wild improved to 8-6-0.Victor Rask returned from COVID-19 protocol to score for the WIld, when he made it 4-1.

“We have struggled to score goals, and when you can add somebody who is an offensive player, it adds obviously to something we were missing,” Evason said of Zuccarello. “He’s done that in the three games.”

Joel Eriksson Ek also scored for Minnesota.

John Gibson made 24 saves in the loss.

“Dallas has said it a couple of times that he’s encouraged by how we’ve shown we can play, but I think we’re at a point where enough’s enough and we’ve got to show we can do that for 60 minutes and that we’re willing to invest that energy, that work ethic, that sacrifice for each other so that we can get the result we need,” Backes said.