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

By TIM REYNOLDS The Associated Press

Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) attempts a shot at Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) and defenseman Jake Middleton (5) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Wilfredo Lee]

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Filip Gustavsson continued his sizzling start to the season by making 24 saves, Jake Middleton tied a career-best with three assists and the Minnesota Wild beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Tuesday night.

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.

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