Minnesota Wild vs Anaheim Ducks Match Player Stats On Feb 18, 2021

Ryan Hartman and Kevin Fiala scored goals 38 seconds apart in the first period and the Minnesota Wild earned a 3-1 road victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.

The Wild earned their first victory in two games since returning from a two-week COVID-19 break, having lost 4-0 to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

Marcus Foligno sealed the victory on a power-play goal with 3:45 remaining. Minnesota goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen made 16 saves as the Wild won a game for the first time since Jan. 31 at home against the Colorado Avalanche.

Sam Steel scored a second-period goal for Anaheim, which got 24 saves from John Gibson.

The Wild's COVID-19 outbreak led to 13 players being placed in protocols before the team returned to the ice. Andrew Hammond was added to the list Thursday, but Ian Cole and Jared Spurgeon were among the latest to return.

Hartman gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 7:27 of the opening period when he picked up a loose puck inside the Anaheim blue line and scored from the left circle, just inside the right post. It was Hartman's second of the season, both against the Ducks.

Minnesota wasted little time increasing the lead to 2-0 when Fiala collected his fourth of the season at 8:05 of the period. Mats Zuccarello's shot was saved by Gibson, with Fiala taking multiple swipes at the rebound before scoring.

The Ducks cut the deficit in half when Steel scored on a backhand shot at 12:00 of the second period. Danton Heinen picked up a turnover behind the Wild goal and fed Steel for his second of the season.

The Ducks had a chance to tie the game with just under eight minutes remaining, but Max Comtois could not get his stick on the puck in front of a wide-open goal as Minnesota's Ryan Suter defended on the play.

Foligno scored his second of the season from point-blank range on a pass from Zach Parise just as a power play was ending. It was just the fourth power-play goal for the Wild this season in 50 tries.

--Field Level Media