“I wasn’t connecting on many passes,” Middleton said. “So, I figured I’d shoot.”
The rest of the period remained hard-hitting and tight checking with both teams in lockstep until overtime.
“A lot of the structure was very similar to us,” Middleton said. “There was not much ice out there.”
In overtime, Joel Eriksson Ek was denied twice, first on an opening-minute breakaway and then on a backhander. But Eriksson Ek, who was cross-checked earlier in the game, never played after that, with coach John Hynes saying Eriksson Ek got “banged up” in overtime.
Already, the Wild are down Jakub Lauko and Jonas Brodin, who were moved to injured reserve before the game while Mats Zuccarello was shifted to long-term injured reserve.