Referees deflection caps 4-2 victory
Joel Eriksson Ek scored the deciding goal after a Flyers clearance hit an official during Minnesota's Tuesday night win.
By Samuel Hayes ·
The Minnesota Wild defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center. The decisive play occurred when a clearing attempt from the Flyers struck referee Kyle Rehman, setting up a two-on-one advantage that resulted in the game-winning goal.
Joel Eriksson Ek finished the sequence with a wrist shot past Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar. Matt Boldy provided the assist on the play. Before that moment, the Wild had built a 3-0 lead following a rapid scoring burst in the first period.
The Wild scored twice within 31 seconds of the opening faceoff. Matt Boldy opened the scoring by receiving a pass from Quinn Hughes and shooting from the high slot. Shortly after, Blake Coleman’s pass deflected off Porter Martone’s skate to Michael McCarron, who scored the second goal.
Philadelphia mounted a late push, narrowing the deficit to 3-2 on goals by Tyson Foerster and Denver Barkey. The Flyers failed to equalize, allowing Danila Yurov to score an empty-netter to secure the final margin. Jesper Wallstedt recorded 23 saves for the victory.
Trevor Zegras of the Flyers drew a 10-minute misconduct penalty after shouting at Rehman. The result extends the Wild’s point streak to six games, a record of 5-0-1. The team also improved to five consecutive wins on the road.
The line featuring Kirill Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Boldy has now started 17 games without conceding a goal while on the ice. Minnesota hosts San Jose on Friday, while the Flyers travel to New York to face the Rangers on Thursday.
