Minnesota Wild Keep on Beating the Florida Panthers

SUNRISE — The Minnesota Wild are off to one of the best starts in the NHL, and continued its winning ways against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

Based on past performances, Minnesota’s 5-1 win against the Panthers should not be much of a surprise. 

Not only is Filip Gustavsson one of the hottest goaltenders in the NHL — he is now 4-0-1 with a 1.40/.952 — but he has also given up just seven goals on 145 shots this season.

Although Minnesota missed the playoffs last year, things look pretty good under coach John Hynes who is starting his first full season with the team.

After taking down the Panthers on Tuesday, Minnesota is 4-0-2 — and has not trailed for a single minute this season. 

Oh, and the Wild has had Florida’s number over the past two seasons.

The last time Florida beat the Wild in regulation was January 21, 2023.

Since that game, Minnesota has been 3-0-1 against the not-usually-so-friendly Floridians. 

Tuesday marked its third consecutive regulation victory, the third straight win by Gustavsson (one was in relief of Marc-Andre Fleury), and the second straight time Minnesota chased Sergei Bobrovsky.

Spencer Knight came out for the third period after Bobrovsky gave up five goals on 16 shots in the opening 40. 

It’s a small sample size, but the Wild clearly have an advantage when playing the Panthers.

At least lately.

For those with a short memory, last season Minnesota shut out Florida 2-0 in the season opener.

Then, in January, Minnesota scored five power-play goals in Sunrise in a game that saw Bobrowsky come out early.

Gustavsson was somewhat surprised when reminded of his success against the Stanley Cup finalists the past two seasons.

“Three straight games? That’s great. I actually didn’t know it,” said Gustavsson, who made 24 saves on Tuesday. 

“They’re such a good offensive team and usually a huge challenge for the goalies.”

Mats Zuccarello was focused on the moment and not on past history, although with two points Tuesday, he has feasted on Florida with 33-lifetime points in 30 games.

“Maybe we just get them on bad days,” he said. “They won a Stanley Cup. It’s a helluva team over there – good coaches. It was a good game for us. Scored some goals, got some momentum and rolled from there.”

Paul Maurice certainly was not happy with the way his team went about Tuesday’s game.

Although the Panthers started fast, once the Wild got a lead, Florida seemed to revert to a style of game Maurice did not like.

At all.

“There is an emotional level you have to get to, to play the way we play, or to play well in an NHL game and we were not there,” said Maurice, who signed a new multi-year contract with the Panthers prior to the game.

“When you have a game that across-the-board, your best players were not your best players, the coach didn’t get them right. … We weren’t anywhere near where we needed to be.”

The teams meet next on December 18th in St. Paul.

Bet on seeing Bobrovsky get right back at it.

ON DECK: GAME NO. 9

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT NEW YORK RANGERS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/Fort Lauderdale); WHDT 9 (West Palm); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/Fort Myers)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season vs. Rangers — Regular Season: Panthers won 2-1; Eastern Conference Finals: Panthers won 4-2. 
• This Season — At Florida: Dec 30; April 14. At MSG: Thursday.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Rangers lead 61-34-8, 6 ties
• Postseason History: Rangers won 4-1 (1997, 1st round); Panthers won 4-2 (2024 ECF)
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at New York Islanders, 7:30 p.m.