Mats Zuccarello talks the talk, then caps comeback win with biggest goal of Wild's season

By / / Sports / 7 minutes of reading


VANCOUVER — After the Minnesota Wild “no-showed” in Calgary on Friday night in a win-and-in scenario, the local reporters traveling with the team decided to give Mats Zuccarello the night off from talking to us.

It was the Wild’s seventh loss in the past 10 games, and Zuccarello, like the leader he is, had been getting requested after most of them.

Yet when we walked into the empty visitors dressing room inside the Saddledome, Zuccarello was standing by his stall, staring at the beat writers and making it crystal clear he wanted to be the spokesperson after such a disappointing loss.

Fast forward 20 minutes after the latest mature words uttered by the Wild’s wily ol’ vet, and the 37-year-old, hobbled by pain as he limped to the bus, happened to bump into yours truly. I thanked him for talking when he didn’t have to. “No problem,” he said. “We’ll be in a better mood tomorrow night.”

Well, talk about leadership.

One big reason the Wild were indeed in a better mood Saturday night was that Zuccarello, in his 999th career game between the regular season and playoffs, capped a third-period comeback that perhaps saved the season when Kirill Kaprizov sent him in for a partial breakaway to put a stamp on a 3-2 overtime victory.

Zuccarello talked the talk, then delivered with his sixth career overtime goal to put the Wild oh-so close to returning to the playoffs. Third-period goals by Brock Faber and Marcus Foligno helped, as did Filip Gustavsson’s holding down the fort when it mattered most after getting chased from the net 24 hours earlier.

Naturally, since Zuccarello is the Wild’s resident talker after losses, he opted out of talking to the media after the victory.

Standing in for him? His bosom buddy, Kaprizov.

“He always wants to talk after losses. I can talk, too, if you guys want it,” Kaprizov said when asked about how important Zuccarello is to the team beyond what we see on the ice. “He’s a huge guy on this team. He (has played) so many years in this league. … If you just talk with him one-on-one or when he starts talking in the locker room, the whole team listens to him all the time. Everyone is quiet and just listens to what he says and learns from him.

“Or one-on-one, you can ask him any question about life or about hockey, whatever, and he helps you. He’s just so important for this team, especially for me, too. And you guys know this. He (has helped) me so much all these years when I came (to the) U.S., (to) Minnesota. Yeah, he’s just a huge part of the team.”

Saturday was as big a win as you can imagine. The St. Louis Blues lost in a shootout in Seattle, so the Wild are closer to finishing seventh in the West. What’s more, the Calgary Flames would have to go 3-0, with the Wild getting no points against the Anaheim Ducks in Tuesday’s regular-season finale, to overtake them. If the Flames lose to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night, the Wild are in.

Reeling from the night before, the Wild entered Saturday’s game with not only Jake Middleton sidelined for a fourth consecutive game but also fellow defenseman Jared Spurgeon, from taking a puck to the throat area in Calgary. Cameron Crotty, who had played one previous NHL game for the Arizona Coyotes, got thrust into duty for his Wild debut and was scored on during his first shift. Early in the second period, Declan Chisholm was lost when he didn’t see a freight train named Marcus Pettersson coming to deliver a crushing check. Chisholm’s head slammed against the glass, and he had to be helped to the medical room.

The good news is the Wild have agreed to terms with 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium and are expected to sign him Sunday morning for presumably his NHL debut Tuesday night against Anaheim, but thankfully, Chisholm was cleared by the medical team and returned for the third period.

It was needed because Faber logged 33 minutes, 28 seconds of ice time — the second most in the NHL this season — and Jonas Brodin logged 32:09.

“I think there’s some guys that played some huge minutes tonight, and I thought they did a really good job, and especially in a back-to-back after an emotional loss last night,” coach John Hynes said. “Our group cares, and we were off the rails a little bit last night … and we got back on the rails tonight.

“That’s why we’re in the position that we’re in. I mean, we faced a lot of adversity all year long, whether it be injuries or things like that. And tonight was a game where we needed to get it back and get back to who we are. Proud of the team and glad that we found a way to get the 2 points.”

After being down 2-0 after two periods, Faber set the tone 22 seconds into the third period with a huge goal to cut the deficit in half. He scored right after, but referee Jean Hebert lost sight of a puck that was never covered by Kevin Lankinen and blew the play dead before Faber scored.

“That might have been my first ever two goals on one shift,” Faber said. “No, we battled. We battled all night. Huge, huge, huge 2 points.”

The Wild were relentless in the third, outshooting Vancouver 13-4. They got the tying goal when Ryan Hartman connected with Foligno as he drove the net. Foligno was also the only other Wild veteran who talked after the loss to Calgary.

“It was just one of those things where it’s like, ‘Just keep your head down and keep going, keep moving forward,’” Foligno said. “Proud of the guys with the way we just kept with that mentality all night.”

In overtime, Kaprizov and Zuccarello played a long shift topping a minute. It started in the neutral zone with them setting a play, then guiding themselves into the offensive zone, where they kept trying to find each other. Finally, Kaprizov slipped the pass to Zuccarello.

“It’s a little bit (of a) long shift,” Kaprizov said. “I don’t know how many circles we did in our zone. Just try and play in the moment. Nice play by Zuccy. We (didn’t) talk before the shift. We just (tried to) make some plays in the moment.”

Foligno said the dressing room was quiet but “positive” in between the second and third periods. With a regulation loss, the Wild would no longer control their destiny and their playoff hopes would be in serious peril.

Not anymore, thanks to what Foligno said was a “laser-focused” demeanor heading into the final 20 minutes.

“It’s not easy when you’re down 2-0 after two periods,” Kaprizov said. “I’m just so proud of the boys because we (came) back. All third period, I (thought) we played in the offensive zone, (went) in net, took some shots, tried to make some chances. Huge 2 points. Huge 2 points for us.”

A big reason for that was Zuccarello following his words from the night before.

“That’s why he’s so loved in this league by every single teammate he’s ever played with,” Faber said. “His personality and his fun, his confidence is through the roof, and he always finds a way to back it up. Big-time players make big plays, and he just seems to always be there in the big moments.”

(Photo: Derek Cain / Getty Images)





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