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Minnesota Wild finding success away from home ice once again

By Tim Johnson

Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Washington Capitals in the second period on Tuesday.(Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Washington Capitals in the second period on Tuesday.(Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports) /
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25-14-4. Bally Sports North . 27-9-8. 109. 6 p.m. CST. 98. Thursday, Jan. 19.

The Minnesota Wild posted a 22-14-5 mark on the road last season and th3 49 points the team recorded was the third-highest in franchise history.

That success away from St. Paul has continued this year.

Minnesota beat Washington 4-2 on Tuesday, for its 12th road win of the season. The Wild are also 6-1-2 in their last nine road games, a hot stretch the team looks to continue on Thursday at PNC Arena against the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s the second of a four-game road trip.

Carolina is 13-5-2 at home this year but have lost three of the past four which comes after a eight-game winning streak at PNC.

Minnesota is just 4-6-3 on the road against Carolina in the series history but has an 11-3-3 mark against the Hurricanes. That includes a 2-1 overtime victory on Nov. 19 at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild enter the game on a come-from-behind win over the Capitals. Jared Spurgeon scored twice in the Wild’s three-goal second period, and Minnesota added an open-net goal from Joel Eriksson Ek in the 4-2 victory.

“We weren’t happy with the way we started,” Spurgeon said in a postgame availability session. “Lackluster, not a lot of energy there … once we got to moving our feet and holding onto pucks down there (in the offensive zone) is when things turned for us. We had a lot of great screens, guys going to the net and creating havoc in front of the net.”

The Wild’s penalty kill continued to shine on the road on Tuesday. Minnesota shut down all three opportunities the Capitals had with a man advantage, and team’s penalty kill is 62-of-74 on the road this season.

The Wild also have continued to stop opponents overall.

Since Dec. 10, goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury (seven starts) and Filip Gustavsson (nine starts) have combined for 11 wins and 34 goals allowed. Gustavsson stopped 32 shots against the Capitals., including three breakaway attempts.

“He’s just so calm back there, covering up rebounds and plays the puck well,” Spurgeon said.

It’s fair to say the Wild have been playing well since a rough opening week of the season. 

That’s been especially true away from home.

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