National Hockey League
Minnesota 4, Philadelphia 1
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 14, 2024
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees: Wes McCauley, Dan O'Rourke
Linesmen: Jesse Marquis, Andrew Smith
Attendance: 18076

Kirill Kaprizov scored a pair of goals to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.

Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi added one goal apiece for Minnesota, which bounced back from a 7-1 loss in its previous game against the Edmonton Oilers. The Wild have not lost back-to-back games in regulation this season.

Travis Sanheim scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who lost for the first time in their past three games.

Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves on 21 shots. The 40-year-old improved to 6-1-1 on the season and notched his 567th career victory, which remains second all-time behind Martin Brodeur (691).

Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson stopped 19 of 22 shots.

Minnesota opened the scoring on a highlight-reel goal by Kaprizov with 5:42 remaining in the first period. The Wild's leading scorer stood several feet to the right of the crease and fired a hard-angle wrist shot over Ersson's left shoulder.

Boldy gave the Wild a 2-0 lead with 4:39 to go in the second period. He got the puck on a breakaway and buried a forehand shot for his 13th goal.

Minnesota made it 3-0 with 10:26 left in the third period. The Wild had a two-on-one rush and Mats Zuccarello dished a pass to Rossi, who scored on a wrist shot from the left circle for his 11th goal.

The Flyers cut the deficit to 3-1 with 5:42 to go in the third period. Sanheim scored on a one-timer for his sixth goal this season and his first since Nov. 16.

Kaprizov finished the scoring with an empty-net goal with 2:11 remaining. It was his second goal of the game and his 20th of the season.

The goal gave Kaprizov at least 20 goals in each of his first five NHL seasons.

Neither team scored on the power play. The Flyers finished 0-for-3 on the man advantage, and the Wild went 0-for-1.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   Minnesota
Travis Sanheim 1 Points Kirill Kaprizov 2
Travis Sanheim 1 Goals Kirill Kaprizov 2
Garnet Hathaway 1 Assists Zach Bogosian 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Samuel Ersson .864 Save Percentage Marc-Andre Fleury .955
Samuel Ersson 19 Saves Marc-Andre Fleury 21
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Philadelphia 22 1 0-3 1-1 9 34
Minnesota 23 4 0-1 3-3 13 26
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against Vegas. The Wild have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .800 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Flyers have a W/L % of .467 after a win and .438 after a loss.