Ref deflection seals Wild win as point streak stretches

Minnesota capped a 4-2 victory over Philadelphia on Tuesday night with a goal born of a fortunate rebound. Joel Eriksson Ek scored the decisive tally after a Philadelphia clearing attempt struck referee Kyle Rehman. The deflection created a 2-on-1 opportunity that the Wild converted to end the game.

The Wild built an early cushion with two goals in 31 seconds during the first period. Matt Boldy opened the scoring with a snap shot from the high slot, assisted by Quinn Hughes. On the ensuing shift, Blake Coleman passed to Porter Martone, whose skate deflected the puck to Michael McCarron. McCarron finished the sequence to make the score 2-0.

Philadelphia challenged the officiating after the second-period incident. Trevor Zegras protested the decision and received a 10-minute misconduct penalty. The Wild extended their lead to 3-0 on the resulting power play. Despite the penalty, the Flyers managed to close the gap later in the game. Tyson Foerster and Denver Barkey scored to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Jesper Wallstedt recorded 23 saves for the Wild. The team extended its point streak to six games with a record of five wins, one loss, and one overtime loss during that span. Minnesota has also won its last five road contests. Danila Yurov added an empty-net goal in the late stages to secure the final margin.

The Wild's top line has not been on the ice for a goal against in any of the 17 games played so far this season. The group of Kirill Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Boldy has maintained that defensive record since the start of the campaign.

Minnesota returns home on Friday to host San Jose. Philadelphia begins a five-game road trip on Thursday against the New York Rangers.