New Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stuffs Hurricanes, snaps Carolina’s point streak
On a night when a lot of attention was directed toward basketball in New Orleans rather than hockey in Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes were handed a 3-1 loss Saturday by the Minnesota Wild.
The Canes had a hard time getting the puck past Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, getting plenty of shots but only a third-period goal from forward Teuvo Teravainen.
The Canes’ usually reliable penalty killers allowed a goal, the fifth power-play score Carolina has given up in the past five games.
Teravainen was left bloodied after being hit in the mouth by a puck in the second period, although he did return in the third to score.
The Wild (42-20-5), winning for the second time this season over Carolina, ran its point streak to nine games while ending the Canes’ point streak at six games.
It was that kind of night and game for the Canes (45-16-8), the Metropolitan Division leaders. In a matchup of two of the league’s best teams, with a crowd of 16,375 on hand at PNC Arena, the Wild was the better team as Fleury outplayed Canes goalie Frederik Andersen.
“He’s a great goalie and there’s a reason why he’s got to be a Hall of Famer,” Canes defenseman Ian Cole said. “Extremely athletic. He makes saves that few goalies can make and we saw some of those tonight. He’s so quick going side to side, and he’s big, he’s square. It’s tough to beat him.
“They didn’t have a ton of chances but they capitalized on them. We had more chances and only capitalized on one. Tip your hat to ‘Flower.’ Just a fantastic job.”
Fleury, 37, was terrific in his 19th career win over Carolina and 514th overall, making 37 saves. A trade-deadline pickup by the Wild from the Chicago Blackhawks, he pushed his record to 3-0-0 since coming to Minnesota.
“He was obviously dialed in tonight,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I’m sure they’re excited about why they got him. That’s why.”
The Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov continued to do what he does best — be an offensive force, collect points. The dynamic winger had a goal and an assist, beating Andersen in the third with a wickedly quick tight-angled shot for his 39th of the season and a 3-0 lead.
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Teravainen’s goal, his 18th, came off a nice feed from Sebastian Aho. But Fleury stopped everything else, with a potential Canes goal in the final minute of regulation overruled when Nino Niederreiter was called for goaltender interference.
“We played a fairly good game but we didn’t make it hard enough on Fleury,” said Niederreiter, who believed he was pushed into the goalie. “We had a lot of Grade-A chances and obviously Fleury stood on his head.”
Mats Zuccarello had the power-play score in the first period for the Wild, whipping a shot from the top of the slot that Andersen couldn’t track for his 20th of the season. He also assisted on the Kaprizov goal.
The Wild made it 2-0 in the second after snuffing out a Canes power play. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov jumped out of the penalty box and soon was filling the wing on a rush, beating Anderson with a shot from the left circle.
The Canes had some near-misses in the first period that could have made a difference. Late in the period, Martin Necas ripped a shot from the left wing that found metal.
The Canes tested Fleury with 15 shots in the second period, from all angle. The veteran goalie was flawless, showing the form that made him the Vezina Trophy winner last season with the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Wild, playing the first game of a four-game road trip, did its part defensively in the game, blocking 17 shots, clearing the zone, keeping tight gaps. But Fleury was the star of the game.
“They played smart hockey with the lead,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said.
This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 9:47 PM with the headline "New Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stuffs Hurricanes, snaps Carolina’s point streak."
