What the Wild proved in October: Depth, road warriors and Kaprizov playing like 'the best player in the league'

PITTSBURGH Way back on Oct.

13, when Joel Eriksson Ek didnt travel with the Minnesota Wild to face the Winnipeg Jets and captain Jared Spurgeon woke up feeling wonky , there was an ominous feeling in the air.

The exhausted Wild ground out a point that night, the first game of a seven-game road trip, but after having blown a game 24 hours earlier a shootout home loss to the Seattle Kraken it just felt like, Here we go again.

Advertisement Last season, the Wild lost Spurgeon in the final exhibition game and Matt Boldy , Freddy Gaudreau and Alex Goligoski before the season was three games old.

It set the tone for a season full of injury problems that tested the limits of a cap-strapped, depth-deprived team.

After a 5-10-4 start, they made a coaching change.

After that overtime loss in Winnipeg 18 days ago, players like Brock Faber , Jake Middleton and Filip Gustavsson all but vowed that history wouldnt repeat itself, though.

The Wild were a much more confident team and, after a difficult training camp, felt they were better equipped to deal with adversity.

And theyve shown it.

Following a 5-3 win Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins , the Wild return to Minnesota for a three-game homestand with a 6-1-2 record, including a 5-1-1 road trip.

They made a two-day pit stop in the Twin Cities after starting the trip 1-0-1 and went 4-1-0 the rest of the way.

Some excitement before the buzzer brought to you by Kaprizov + Zuccarello pic.twitter.com/wjuJYNhX1u Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 30, 2024 Love it.

Love our start, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said after his triumphant final start of his 21-year career in Pittsburgh.

Love the way the guys compete and battle.

It was definitely a stinger to miss the playoffs last year, and I feel everybody wants to put that behind us and move forward and do better.

And the way theyve been battling and confident and coming back in games and holding our leads in the games, I think those are things weve been good at.

Its been a lot of fun.

Lot of fun winning games.

GO DEEPER Fleury bids Pittsburgh adieu with vintage victory: 'Hard to believe thats the last time' As good as the Wild did on the road, every player, to a man, was eager to get on the chartered flight late Tuesday to see their families.

I miss my son, Gaudreau said.

Theres a lot of people back home that would like us home, too, said veteran Mats Zuccarello , whose team-leading fifth goal was the game winner Tuesday.

Its been a good road trip for us, for sure.

So, its good to go home with some points in the bag and a little bit of confidence.

Advertisement For the most part, the Wild have gotten solid goaltending, defended well and are starting to get point production from players beyond Kirill Kaprizov , Zuccarello, Boldy and Eriksson Ek so far.

Of course, this team goes the way Kaprizov goes, and he has been simply fabulous.

Heading into Wednesdays NHL action, Kaprizov was tied for the league lead with 18 points and had a league-leading seven multi-point games, including six in a row.

He had 10 assists over a six-game assist streak.

Of his 13 assists this season, 10 are primary assists.

The Wild have outscored opponents 12-4 with him on the ice at five-on-five through nine games.

Kaprizov and Zuccarello pic.twitter.com/YtgrdiwYZH Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) October 23, 2024 This is the fastest start of Kaprizovs NHL career, and his passing right now is downright special.

Hes really feeling it, coach John Hynes said.

Hes playing the game the right way.

Hes executing when he needs to execute.

Its fun to see.

Its fun to be able to coach a guy like that and just his passion for the game.

The competitiveness, that stands out every night.

But the ability to make plays and make plays you dont think can happen is pretty special.

Zuccarello rolls his eyes anytime hes asked about his linemate, bosom buddy and protege.

I honestly dont understand why you guys are surprised, he said.

Hes done this for five years and keeps doing it.

Its not like Im going, Wow.

Every day, weve seen (this) for five years and still going.

Pleasure to have him.

Ive said that since Day 1, for me, (hes the) best player in the league.

Working hard, playing for the team, blocking shots.

Against the Penguins, Gaudreau scored the Wild third lines third and fourth goals of the season.

Jakub Lauko scored the fourth lines first goal of the season.

Jakub Lauko from a tight angle pic.twitter.com/mOHz75R4sJ Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 29, 2024 Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin have been among the stingiest forwards in the NHL from a chances-against standpoint, and they really picked it up over the final four games of the trip with Gaudreau placed between them.

Ryan Hartman is sidelined with an upper-body injury and Hynes saw something in Columbus with Marat Khusnutdinov between Foligno and Trenin that made him switch to Gaudreau in Florida.

Advertisement I thought his game was trending in the right direction, and we were trying to find a good combo, Hynes said.

We were working with Trenny and Moose a little bit on their game, and then I just think Freddy, with the two big guys going through there, Freddys been great on breakouts.

Good center support.

I think he can bring the puck up to help get those guys up and out of the zone, and then I just think his smarts to play with those two guys helps his ability to score.

But the thing I probably like the most about his game, even versus last year, theres speed.

I think his competitiveness in puck battles is there, and it seems like its been a good fit and that line has come up big the last couple nights.

And just like that we have a tie game.

What a goal by Marcus Foligno.

2-2 pic.twitter.com/38Tc0Jz3cU Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 26, 2024 On the blue line, other than the game in Philadelphia, Jonas Brodin and Faber have been excellent.

Faber even got into his first career fight Tuesday when he got tangled with a frustrated Sidney Crosby .

Once Faber got into it with one of the games all-time greats, he knew hed probably have to fight somebody.

Jack St.

Ivany was that somebody, coming off the bench and beelining for Faber.

(Crosby) thought I slew-footed him.

I didnt think I did, Faber said.

Obviously, I dont see myself as a dirty player, but again, were competitors.

Hes a competitor, and hes been one of the best players, if not the best, for a long time.

Thats what happens when you go after guys like that.

I didnt mean to go after him, I dont think he meant to come after me, but that was that.

I obviously had to fight after that.

Faber was wearing two chains heading into the fight.

Those chains were ripped right off his neck during the fight.

I can always replace a chain, he said.

Its not a big deal.

Jack St.

Ivany drops the gloves with Brock Faber after Brock got into it with Sid pic.twitter.com/QHMEn869uE Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 30, 2024 Hynes was proud of the effort Tuesday night to fight back from two goals down.

Often at the end of a long road trip, an early deficit can lead to a rout because players cant muster the energy to fight back and essentially have one foot on the plane.

But the Wild stormed back, in part buoyed by wanting to play well for Fleury.

It was a good response after a disappointing loss in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Advertisement This is one of the hardest-working teams Ive been on, Zuccarello said.

I hate when people say youre working hard but youre never not working harder than everyone else.

Everyone in this league works hard, but we work smart.

We work for each other.

Sometimes the puck goes in, you get some wins.

Sometimes you deserve to win some games and you lose.

Its always good to get points in this league.

Its hard.

So, yeah, just stay the course, stay humble.

But theres no denying this was one impressive road trip, considering how it started on that mid-October night in Winnipeg.

You cant predict you were going to go 5-1-1 (on the road trip), but I think theres a lot to be said (about) the importance of training camp, the mindset, the feel, the motivation of the players, pushing them, Hynes said.

Theyve all been very consistent.

I think thats one of the things when you go into Winnipeg and you play that type of game, you have a couple injuries, that was an opportunity for us to really rise to the occasion.

We all said coming in this was going to be a big road trip for us.

The guys really buckled in, played the right way and found ways to win games.

Ready and waiting pic.twitter.com/G0T8jY45Vk Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 30, 2024 Theres a lot of season left 73 games to be exact.

But so far, so good, with the team winning six of its first nine games a year after not getting its sixth victory until Game 20.

You try and stay level-headed, Faber said.

Were obviously happy with this road trip, but were trying to find that consistency day in and day out, honestly.

I think that was the struggle last year.

A game like Philadelphia , that could have turned the whole road trip around.

Obviously, we battled back (against the Penguins), and thats huge for us.

As successful as the road trip was, though, Faber said the Wild cant wait to play at Xcel Energy Center in front of those fans again.

Hopefully we can keep it going at home, he said.

(Photo of Kirill Kaprizov: Douglas P.

DeFelice / Getty Images).

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