ST. PAUL, Minn. — On a night when the Minnesota Wild hardly had their “A” game against the big, young, feisty Columbus Blue Jackets, they figured out a way to unearth enough good hockey to pull out a 3-2 season-opening win.
The second line of Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy delivered consistently and combined for two goals in the first two periods as the Wild improved to 17-2-4 all-time in home openers (excluding one regulation loss in what was deemed their 2010 home opener in Finland).
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They are now 10-1-1 in the 12 times their first game of the season was at Xcel Energy Center.
Filip Gustavsson made 31 saves, Boldy scored a goal and two assists, Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello scored the other goals, and Johansson had two assists on the night former Wild coach Dean Evason debuted as Columbus’ coach back in his old stomping grounds.
Dean looks touched 😂 pic.twitter.com/kvE33g8GvU
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 11, 2024
It was an emotional game, as Columbus was playing its first regular-season game since the Aug. 29 death of star winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew. The Wild honored the memory of the Gaudreau brothers before the game with a video tribute, then held a 13-second moment of silence.
It was fitting that Boldy had such a strong game. Boldy, who went to Boston College, idolized Gaudreau as a BC star growing up outside Boston and was honored to be on his line at the World Championship in Czechia in May.
Boldy led the tournament in scoring for the United States and assisted on Gaudreau’s last goal — a May 19 short-handed goal against Kazakhstan.
The Johansson–Eriksson Ek–Boldy line was just tremendous throughout and teamed up for one highlight-reel goal by Eriksson Ek.
Joel Eriksson Ek makes it a 2-1 #mnwild lead, 2nd line continues to buzz pic.twitter.com/sNL6csmcZm
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) October 11, 2024
The Wild now have an 8-0-2 point streak against the Blue Jackets.
They next host the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night before hitting the road for a seven-game, 17-day trip, including a rematch in Columbus next weekend.
‘Gus Bus’ looks sharp in debut
The Wild plan to carry three goalies for much of this season, although Jesper Wallstedt is expected to spend some time in Iowa and at times will be “reassigned” to fit a player — roster-wise and cap-wise — onto their 23-man roster. That first time happened for the season opener so the Wild could recall defenseman Daemon Hunt, who was scratched, as insurance with Declan Chisholm out sick.
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But despite the Wild struggling at times in their own end and especially in the middle of the ice, Gustavsson was outstanding with 31 saves. Last season Gustavsson made 41 saves in a season-opening 2-0 win over the Florida Panthers at home.
This is a big year for Gustavsson, who is trying to rebound after going 20-18-4 last season with a 3.06 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage.
From ‘week to week’ to first goal, two assists
The Wild scared the bejesus out of fans early in the second week of training camp when they announced Boldy was “week to week” with a lower-body injury sustained on the third day of camp. “Week to week” during the second week of an 18-day camp would usually mean his return would come a decent chunk into the season, but a half-hour later, Wild coach John Hynes clarified they anticipated Boldy being ready for the start of the season.
Well, a week after the injury, Boldy was back on the ice, and even though he didn’t play a single preseason game, he was ready for the opener and came through with a multipoint game. Hynes and Bill Guerin have subtly and not so subtly insinuated this could be the year we see a big breakout from a 23-year-old who has combined for 60 goals and 132 points in the past two seasons.
So far, so good.
MATT BOLDY NO-LOOKER 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ngW5mFZWeJ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 11, 2024
Wild power play comes through
It wasn’t the greatest game for the Wild, but they seemed to wake up after a Blue Jackets power-play goal for a 2-1 lead in the second period was overturned when Hynes challenged that James van Riemsdyk interfered with Gustavsson. He did.
The Wild finally got a power play of their own in the third period when Johansson drew a cross-checking penalty. The Wild’s power play, which was first in the NHL during the preseason at 52.9 percent, scored a sensational goal for a 3-1 lead that became the winner when Zach Werenski scored a power-play goal late.
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Minnesota’s top unit, which led the NHL in offensive-zone possession time on the power play last season, was on the ice for 1:49 and tired out the penalty kill to the point Zuccarello was able to win a race for the puck for a quick regroup.
Kirill Kaprizov hit Boldy, who slid a blistering pass over to Zuccarello for a one-timer and his first goal of the season.
Teamwork is really making the dream work pic.twitter.com/g8UwYD4snq
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 11, 2024
(Photo of Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy: Matt Krohn / Imagn Images)
Michael Russo is a senior writer covering the Minnesota Wild and the National Hockey League for The Athletic. He has covered the NHL since 1995 (Florida Panthers) and the Wild since 2005, previously for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Minneapolis Star Tribune. Michael is a four-time Minnesota Sportswriter of the Year and in 2017 was named the inaugural Red Fisher Award winner as best beat writer in the NHL. Michael can be seen on Bally Sports North and the NHL Network; and heard on KFAN (100.3 FM) and podcasts "Worst Seats in the House" (talknorth.com), "The Athletic Hockey Show" on Wednesdays and "Straight From the Source" (The Athletic). Follow Michael on Twitter @RussoHockey
