NHL

Minnesota Wild at Florida Panthers

· National Hockey League
Final
5 - 1

Gustavsson stays hot, Wild roll past Panthers 5-1 to extend season-opening point streak

Marco Rossi scores goal for Wild

Mats Zuccarello had his team-leading fourth goal of the season for the Wild, who also got goals from Marcus Johansson, Marco Rossi, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek. Rossi and Johansson scored 22 seconds apart in the first period for a 2-0 lead, and it was 5-1 by the end of the second.

Sam Bennett got his fifth goal of the season for Florida, with Matthew Tkachuk — back from a five-game absence because of illness — getting one of the assists. The Panthers announced a contract extension for coach Paul Maurice before the game.

Takeaways Wild: Gustavsson (4-0-1) has allowed seven goals on 145 shots so far this season. That means he's allowed only six more goals than he's scored.

Panthers: Sergei Bobrovsky gave up five goals on 16 shots and was pulled after the second period, replaced by Spencer Knight. Bobrovsky remained one win shy of becoming the 14th goaltender with 400 victories.

Key moment Eriksson Ek's goal with 3:55 left in the second made it 5-1. It was Minnesota's biggest lead in Sunrise since a 6-2 edge on Oct. 16, 2008.

Key stat The Wild (4-0-2, 10 points) have gotten at least one point in each of their first six games. The last time that happened was 2008-09 (5-0-1, 11 points).

Up next Minnesota plays the fifth game of its seven-game road swing Thursday at Tampa Bay. Florida visits the New York Rangers on Thursday, the start of a three-game trip to the Empire State — one that'll be followed by games in Finland Nov. 1 and 2 against Dallas. The Panthers next play in Sunrise on Nov. 7.

Regular Season Series

MIN leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 11:40 Marco Rossi Goal (3) Tip-In, assists: Kirill Kaprizov (7), Jake Middleton (1)
Goal 1st Period 12:02 Marcus Johansson Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Matt Boldy (5), Jonas Brodin (3)
Goal 2nd Period 2:40 Matt Boldy Goal (3) Tip-In, assists: Mats Zuccarello (3), Joel Eriksson Ek (1)
Goal 2nd Period 11:19 Sam Bennett Goal (5) Deflected, assists: Carter Verhaeghe (4), Matthew Tkachuk (3)
Goal 2nd Period 13:58 Mats Zuccarello Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Kirill Kaprizov (8), Jake Middleton (2)
Goal 2nd Period 16:05 Joel Eriksson Ek Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Jake Middleton (3)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/fla.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originFLA
20 Blocked Shots 12
26 Hits 55
4 Takeaways 8
22 Shots 25
1 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 0
50.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
28 Faceoffs Won 22
56.0 Faceoff Win Percent 44.0
8 Giveaways 8
0 Total Penalties 2
0 Penalty Minutes 4

Game Information

Amerant Bank Arena

Location: Sunrise, FL
Attendance: 18,264 | Capacity:

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 15 1 30 0
Minnesota 10 2 23 3
Dallas 9 5 18 0
Colorado 9 8 18 0
Utah 7 6 17 3
St. Louis 7 9 14 0
Chicago 6 9 13 1
Nashville 5 9 12 2

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Florida 11 4 23 1
Toronto 10 6 22 2
Boston 8 7 18 2
Ottawa 8 7 16 0
Tampa Bay 7 6 15 1
Detroit 7 7 15 1
Buffalo 7 8 15 1
Montreal 5 9 12 2
Full Standings