How Wild recovered and then blew the lead late in their first regulation loss to the Flyers: 3 takeaways

PHILADELPHIA – In a typical afternoon matinee in which the Minnesota Wild played well but struggled with execution in the first half of the game against the Philadelphia Flyers, it looked like the Wild would fall to their first two-goal deficit of the season on Saturday afternoon Season respond with a second win in a row after coming from behind.

In a chaotic barnburner, the Wild rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead, but then had to overcome a 5-4 deficit when Jake Middleton scored a dribbling equalizer with 6:32 left. But Rasmus Ristolainen scored the winner with 2:24 left before Sean Couturier converted a hat trick into an empty net and the Flyers won 7-5.

RASMUS RISTOLAINEN IN THE FRONT!!!

THE #FLYER GO UP 6-5 LATE IN THE THIRD!!! pic.twitter.com/jsvrc8yz1e

— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) October 26, 2024

The Wild suffered their first regulation loss of the season, ending their seven-game points streak to start the season (5-1-1). The Wild are 5-12-1 all-time in Philadelphia.

The wilderness binds it again

THIS GAME 😱 pic.twitter.com/AduVVns2I5

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 26, 2024

The Wild scored four goals in a 7:24 span between the second and third periods to take a one-goal lead, but then gave up two goals to the Flyers 3:31 apart.

After the Wild took just their second penalty in three games, Travis Konecny ​​​​made the Wild pay on the power play, and shortly after, Filip Gustavsson gifted Couturier a fifth goal.

It was Gustavsson's toughest start to the season. After previously allowing seven goals in five games, Gustavsson conceded two goals on the first three shots he faced, four goals on the first ten shots he faced, and six goals on 22 total shots. He is now 4-1-1 this season.

Brock Faber, Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek scored in the final 5:06 of the second period and Foligno scored his second goal of the game and the season 2:18 into the third period to give the Wild a 4-3 lead.

Kirill Kaprizov had his best fifth straight multi-point game with two assists. He has eight assists in a five-game assist streak.

Defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned with the Wild on the road, but missed his sixth straight game. Center Ryan Hartman was sent back to Minnesota and missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury.

The Wild traveled to Pittsburgh after the game, where Marc-Andre Fleury will make his final start in Pittsburgh. The Wild are 4-1-1 so far in their seven-game trip.

And now we have a draw. What a goal from Marcus Foligno. 2-2 pic.twitter.com/38Tc0Jz3cU

– Spoke Z (@SpokedZ) October 26, 2024

In the second, the floodgates open

During the second period, it was so obvious that if the Wild could just get one, the floodgates would open. Aside from a 91-foot dump-in, the Flyers essentially went 30 minutes between shots while the Wild, in typical afternoon game fashion, scattered passes and shots left and right.

But when Faber finally scored his first goal of the season, the dam broke.

First goal of the year for Brock Faber!#mnwild pic.twitter.com/LvE1fydcOm

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL highlights and news (@HockeyDaily365) October 26, 2024

33 seconds later, Foligno equalized the score at 2-2 with his first goal of the season. Then, after rookie Matvei Michkov scored a nice goal on a delayed penalty to regain the lead for Philly, Middleton deftly dropped a puck into a Flyers line change with 51 seconds left, resulting in a too many men on ice penalty.

On the ensuing power play, Kaprizov sent a pass out of the net to Eriksson Ek for his fourth goal of the season, tying the score at 3-3 with 3.2 seconds left in the second period.

Joel Eriksson Ek evened the score again for Minnesota with three seconds left in the second period#mnwild pic.twitter.com/jev5GkmWAl

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL highlights and news (@HockeyDaily365) October 26, 2024

Rare bad start for the Wild

Gustavsson, who had conceded seven goals in his last five appearances, was beaten twice on the Flyers' first three shots on Saturday. It was the first time in eight games this season that the Wild conceded the first goal.

Jonas Brodin was robbed by Konecny ​​​​and a few moments later, Gustavsson Couturier missed a perfect rebound from Ristolainen's point shot 78 seconds into the game. Two minutes later, former Wild defenseman Nick Seeler scored when Gustavsson, screened by Zach Bogosian, missed his own angle wide for a 2-0 lead.

This goal came after 3:51 minutes. The Wild didn't allow a try the rest of the period and controlled the game the rest of the way. However, Samuel Ersson was good and Bogosian, Liam Ohgren and Eriksson Ek fired pucks just past the openings left open by Ersson.

So those first four minutes essentially resulted in the Wild having to make a significant comeback in the second period.

NICK SEELER scores a goal for a 2-0 lead pic.twitter.com/JQAVN2PaRJ

– Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) October 26, 2024

Eriksson Ek's broken nose in sight

In Columbus, it took Eriksson Ek a game where he struggled with the puck to remove the fish shell over his face.

But three games after returning from a highly publicized broken nose, renowned pugilist Garnet Hathaway thought he could get away with one when he deliberately elbowed Eriksson Ek in the neck while converting a penalty.

Eriksson Ek was obviously in pain and remained on the ice for a while before getting up. Referee Chris Rooney assessed a minor penalty for rough conduct, giving the Wild a 25-second five-on-three. The Flyers and Ersson did a great job eliminating the two-man disadvantage and the rest of the Hathaway minor. During the TV timeout that followed, Eriksson Ek had the blood wiped from the inside of his visor and then spoke to Rooney about not calling a major for the play.

Late in the game, after the Wild opened the scoring for the sixth, Mats Zuccarello prevented a power play when he was knocked down by Hathaway. In the ensuing scrum, Hathaway grabbed Eriksson Ek again and went for it on his face.

(Photo: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)