National Hockey League
Minnesota 4, Philadelphia 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 14, 2019
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees: Jake Brenk, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen: Shandor Alphonso, Brandon Gawryletz
Attendance: 17140

Eric Staal scored two goals and Alex Stalock finished with 17 saves as the Minnesota Wild extended their home point streak to 12 games with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Zach Parise and Carson Soucy also scored goals and Jonas Brodin added two assists for Minnesota, which improved to 10-1-4 over its last 15 games. The Wild, who began the season with just one win and two points in its first seven games (1-6-0), moved within two points of the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The 12-game home point streak is just one shy of the longest in team history set from Dec. 27, 2017, through Feb. 13, 2018, when the Wild went 10-0-3.

James van Riemsdyk scored for Philadelphia, which lost its second straight game and for the third time in four games. Carter Hart stopped 24 shots.

Philadelphia scored on the first shot of the game when van Riemsdyk finished a two-on-one with Morgan Frost with a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Stalock on his glove side for his seventh goal of the season.

Minnesota came back and tied it five minutes when Kevin Fiala's wraparound shot on the right post caromed in off Parise's stick. It was the 13th goal of the season for Parise.

The Wild took a 2-1 lead 95 seconds later when Staal picked up a rebound of his own shot on the right side of the crease and backhanded in the rebound.

Staal made it 3-1 midway through the second period with a power play goal, firing in a wrist shot from the middle of the right circle that pinballed in through traffic. It was his 11th goal of the season and second multi-goal game of the season.

Philadelphia, which failed to register a shot on goal in the first 13 minutes of the second period, had just eight shots on goal and two scoring chances in the first two periods.

The Flyers pulled Hart with 3:12 left and 59 seconds left on a power play, and Soucy then sealed the win with a short-handed empty-netter.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   Minnesota
James van Riemsdyk 1 Points Eric Staal 2
James van Riemsdyk 1 Goals Eric Staal 2
Morgan Frost 1 Assists Jonas Brodin 2
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals Carson Soucy 1
Carter Hart .889 Save Percentage Alex Stalock .944
Carter Hart 24 Saves Alex Stalock 17
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Philadelphia 18 1 0-3 5-5 15 31
Minnesota 28 4 0-5 3-3 11 20
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Wild have a W/L % of .467 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Winnipeg. The Flyers have a W/L % of .588 after a win and .467 after a loss.