ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists and Chris Kreider scored twice for the New York Rangers in a 7-3 victory at Minnesota on Thursday night that spoiled the Wild’s season opener.
Kreider and Adam Fox had the first two goals as the Rangers took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission, and Filip Chytil scored in the second period to push the lead back to three.
Vincent Trocheck and Kaapo Kakko tacked on goals in the third period to neutralize the pair for the Wild by Matt Boldy in a whiplash stretch of 2:02 in which both teams scored twice.
Until then, Igor Shesterkin was as sharp as ever in the net, robbing the Wild more than once while they outshot the Rangers 12-2 in the early going. Shesterkin finished with 33 saves.
Kreider punctuated the offensive explosion for the Rangers by scoring with 5:53 left, matching the career high for goals allowed by Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury, who stopped 28 shots while being put in some unfavorable positions by his defense, gave up seven goals twice before with Pittsburgh in 2006 (against the Rangers) and with Vegas in 2019 (against Colorado), according to Sportradar data.
Fleury gave up six goals twice last season, both with Chicago before he was traded to Minnesota on deadline day.
Mats Zuccarello had a power play goal for the Wild, who lost in their first game of the season at Xcel Energy Center for just the second time in the franchise’s 22 years. They’re 16-2-4 in the opener at their downtown arena.
The hockey-savvy fans here, who haven’t seen the Wild advance past the first round of the playoffs since 2015, were quickly disappointed by a Rangers team with as much top-six potency as any in the league.
Fleury had no chance to stop the first goal that came just 4:06 in, when Panarin and Mika Zibanejad — who had two assists — set up Krieder on the power play with a slick display of passing.
Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime had a two-on-none short-handed breakaway in the fateful first period, but Dewar’s pass sailed out of Duhaime’s reach and no shot was attempted.
Panarin’s second line with Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere — who also had two assists — was especially crisp all night for a Rangers team that opened with a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay. The Rangers lost to the Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals last spring.
UP NEXT
The Rangers stay on the road to visit Winnipeg on Friday.
The Wild continue their season-opening four-game homestand against Anaheim on Saturday.
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