1. 25 in 25
Down a goal past the midway point of the third period, the Wild looked like it might drop its fifth consecutive game in a real frustrating fashion ... one in which it was clearly the superior team and probably deserved a lot better.
But as has been a hallmark of this team for much of the season, it staged a late comeback to snatch two points from the jaws of defeat.
With the Flyers leading 4-3 and with under eight minutes to play, Matt Boldy tied the game on a shot that eluded Flyers goaltender Carter Hart through the five-hole, knotting things up at four apiece.
It was Boldy's ninth goal of the season, and the rookie leads all NHL rookies in points-per-game (.904). How excited was the 20-year-old winger?
Video: MIN@PHI: Boldy capitalizes off of turnover
"I blacked out a little bit there," Boldy said of his celebration. "Just happy it squeaked through."
Just 25 seconds elapsed on the clock before the Wild paced the hockey game for the very first time, as defenseman Jonas Brodin wired a shot from the right point that made it through a pair of screens and found the twine under the crossbar.
Suddenly, with 7:19 to play, it was Minnesota defending a lead instead of chasing one.
Video: Dean Evason postgame at Philadelphia
"It was a grind. We talked about it was going to be a grinding game to kind of find where we're at," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "We thought we played good. We thought we played good in spurts, but it was a grind. The positive thing is that we did grind, continually kept grinding, everybody and we're fortunate to get it done."
Minnesota did the job from there, closing out its first victory since a win over Edmonton on Feb. 20 and starting its road back-to-back, which will conclude Friday night in Buffalo, in style.
Per NHL PR, the Wild became just the third team in NHL history over overcome four deficits in a game to win twice in a single season, joining the 1985-86 North Stars and the 1989-90 Penguins.
Video: MIN@PHI: Brodin gives Wild the lead from the point
"We know we're a really good team, it just hasn't been going our way lately," Brodin said. "You just try and stay positive and stay together and get through this together. I think every team has dips in the year, but like I said before, it's really hard to win in this league and it's nice to get one here in Philly."
2. Hartzy's revenge
Wild forward Ryan Hartman was once famously traded from the Flyers to the Dallas Stars in June of 2019. At the time of the deal, Hartman was on a fishing trip in Canada. So remote was the location that he didn't have cell phone service, and it took several days for someone to track him down and let him know.
Video: MIN@PHI: Tic-tac-toe sequence ends with Hartman goal
Hartman would never play a game for the Stars. A restricted free agent at the time, the Stars didn't tender him a deal ... and about a week after the trade was consummated, Hartman signed a two-year contract with the Wild, where he's been ever since.
Well, in his first trip back to Philly since he was traded, Hartman made his former team pay, scoring a pair of goals and reaching a goal-scoring milestone for the very first time.
And in typical Hartman fashion, the now-veteran forward downplayed his psedo-homecoming.
Video: MIN@PHI: Hartman knocks in loose puck
"It's been almost three years now," Hartman said with a shrug. "It is weird that it's the first time back though considering shortened seasons and different divisions. So it was cool to be back in the building."
Down 1-0 early on, Minnesota got even later in the first when Hartman camped out on top of the Flyers crease and was there to re-direct a Mats Zuccarello centering feed for his 20th goal of the season. For Hartman, who played 19 games for Philadelphia in 2018-19, it was the first time the one-time first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks reached the 20-goal plateau.
It also established a new career high in that category, after eclipsing the 19 he scored as a Blackhawk in 2016-17, his first full season in the National Hockey League.
But he wasn't done.
In the second, Hartman poked home a loose puck in front of Philadelphia goaltender Carter Hart for his second of the night. The two goals totaled about six feet from the goal line, the kind of greasy goals that were a big part of Hartman's red-hot start to the season.
It was Hartman's second multi-goal game of the season and fifth of his career, as he snapped a seven-game goal drought in the process.
Video: Ryan Hartman postgame at Philadelphia
"It is is what it is. Hopefully more to come," Hartman said.
Hartman said he was more pleased with his late stick check that helped preserve the lead than he was with his goal.
"When you get down in these kind of low points, it takes a game like that to kind of get out of it," Hartman said. "We kind of let them stick around a little bit. We maybe could have maybe started better or gotten off to a better lead, but we were able to finally get two points here and hopefully that gets us out of this."
Zuccarello just keeps on potting helpers. He now has nine in his past nine games (to go with three goals during that stretch), and his 37 assists are the most he's had in a season in four years -- and there's still more than two dozen games remaining in the campaign. His 54 points mark the best he's had since he tallied 59 in 2016-17.
Video: Matt Boldy postgame at Philadelphia
Kirill Kaprizov had the second assist on Hartman's goal, extending his point streak to three games. Kaprizov has tallied at least one point in 20 of his past 23 games, potting 14 goals and assisting on 19 others over that span.
"Those two have been producing, but it's been mostly on the power play," Hartman said. "Our line as a whole, we've been awesome creating chances and finally felt like we had some room out there. We moved our feet. Kirill got the puck and immediately start skating towards their and we were able to hold on to the puck. We weren't throwing pucks blindly or making plays and seeing the play develop opposed to just hoping.
"It's a step in the right direction as a team and for our line too."
3. Freddy beats the buzzer
One of the big early turning points in this one was Freddy Gaudreau's first-period goal that came in the final moments before intermission.
With the home team clinging to a 2-1 lead late in the opening 20 minutes, the Flyers inexplicably turned it over, coming up short on a clearing attempt that was intercepted by Gaudreau at the blue line.
The Wild centerman at first looked to pass, then decided to shoot himself, wiring a shot past Hart with 2.7 seconds showing on the Wells Fargo Center scoreboard, tying the game at 2-2 after one period.
Video: MIN@PHI: Gaudreau ties it in final seconds of 1st
They'd add a couple tenths to the clock, as the goal was officially scored at 19:57 ... regardless, it was big for Minnesota to go into the dressing room knotted up rather than down a goal.
"We actually gave them the room in [between] the first and second because we were more pissed at the first, some of the stuff we were doing," Evason said. "But we talked between the second and third and actually they talked at the end of the game. It's a group thing and again we all stick together and get it done."
Video: Matt Boldy postgame at Philadelphia
The Wild used that momentum to play a strong second period, rolling up a 12-6 advantage in the middle period. Unfortunately, the late puck luck went against Minnesota late in the second, when Claude Giroux's off-speed shot was deflected by James van Riemsdyk past Cam Talbot at 19:14 for a power-play goal that gave the Flyers a one-goal lead headed to the final frame.
Loose pucks
- Jared Spurgeon became the all-time Wild leader in games played by a defenseman, skating in his 744th career game, besting Nick Schultz's previous mark
- Fiala recorded two assists for his 13th multi-point game of the season. His 29 assists are two shy of tying his career best set in 2019-20
- Brodin's goal was his fourth goal of the season. He ranks second among team defensemen in scoring with 21 points
- Dmitry Kulikov tallied the lone assist on Brodin's goal, his 14th assist and 18th point of the season. His 18 points are the most since he registered 22 points in 2014-15
- Hartman's two even-strength goals gives him 20 on this season, which is tied for eighth-most in the NHL
- Gaudreau's goal was his third in the past four games. He has collected 12 points, including six goals and six assists in his last 15 contests.
- Talbot finished with 26 saves on 30 shots to earn the win
- Hart allowed five goals on 38 shots
- Scott Laughton had a goal and an assist to pace the Philadelphia offense
Dan's three stars
1. Jonas Brodin
2. Matt Boldy
3. Freddy Gaudreau
Highlights
Video: Hartman scores twice in 5-4 win in Philadelphia
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