Throughout some early season struggles as a team, one of the most productive players for the Minnesota Wild was also one of the most veteran players on the roster. Winger Marcus Johansson entered Sunday ranked third on the team in goals and scoring with his six tallies and 14 points. 

He added his ninth assist of the season as a cherry on top to an already special evening against the visiting Calgary Flames: His 1,000th career game playing in the NHL. 

“It’s fun, obviously,” Johansson said after the game. “But what makes it better is winning. That’s always No. 1. And you can enjoy it a little bit more, and everyone’s happy and smiling. That’s the main thing. That’s what it’s all about.” 

Johansson helped the Wild break up a scoreless stalemate later in the second period when his feed from along the sideboards to Matt Boldy in the slot gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead. The night ended with a 2-0 Wild victory over the Flames after an empty-net goal by Kirill Kaprizov and a career-high 36-save shutout for young goaltender Jesper Wallstedt. 

Johansson was recognized for his milestone game at the first TV timeout on the videoboard and by the 17,090 announced crowd at Grand Casino Arena. He became the 20th Swedish player to reach 1,000 NHL games played, the 412th player overall and the 11th player to skate in such a milestone game while wearing a Wild sweater. 

He’s also playing consistently well this season. His assist Sunday extended his point streak to nine games. Per NHL Stats, he’s only the second player in NHL history to enter his 1,000th game with an active point streak of eight games or longer; Bobby Hull had a 16-game streak when he reached the milestone on Jan. 15, 1972. 

Four Wild players have now recorded a point while skating in game No. 1,000 of their career: Mikko Koivu on Dec. 1, 2019, Ryan Suter on Oct. 25, 2018, Matt Cullen on Jan. 10, 2012 and Johansson. 

This current Wild team is lucky to have Johansson, his linemate Boldy said postgame. 

“He’s such a talented player,” Boldy said. “There’s a reason he’s played so many games. 

“He’s so smart, such a good skater. … When he has the puck, that’s when stuff happens. Even being his linemate, you get him the puck and get open. That’s the game plan.” 

That seemed to work well on Boldy’s goal Sunday. Johansson said he saw they were going to have an odd-man advantage on the play, and he knew Boldy was going to be in the middle of the ice. 

Wild coach John Hynes talked about Johansson’s consistency and ability to create situations and play in all situations on the ice. 

“It was nice to see him and his two girls before the game read the lineup for him,” Hynes said. “So, special night for him. Great to see him just keep being reliable and consistent in his game and being an effective guy for us.” 

Johansson’s two daughters, ages 5 and 9, were in the Wild dressing room for the pregame lineup-card reading. They were part of a large cheering section in the house supporting Johansson for the game. His parents, brother and his children, plus many other friends were in attendance. Celebrating the milestone is special for Johansson. 

“It feels like a long time, but also it’s flown by at the same time,” Johansson said. “It’s kind of weird. But very grateful for it and fun to share with the guys in here.” 

Next up for the Wild is hosting the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night at Grand Casino Arena. But immediately on the agenda for Johansson once he headed home to a full house after Sunday’s victory? A cold one. And that doesn’t mean enjoying the weather. 
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“Go home and have a beer and enjoy it,” Johansson said. 

It’s been a rough homestand for the Minnesota Wild, right on the heels of a rough road trip. Coming into Saturday night, the Wild carried two regulation and two overtime losses into November. The Wild had only three wins on the season, with just one on home ice.

Whether it was the energy of a few fun-sized candy bars from Halloween, or even the fresh turn to a new calendar month, the Wild found a way to get a victory against an injury-depleted Vancouver Canucks team.

Here are five rules from the 5-2 Wild victory:

1. The Wild earned their first regulation win at Grand Casino Arena this season.

The Wild’s 5-0 shutout victory in St. Louis to open the season on Oct. 9 seems like a lifeline ago in some ways. Since then, there haven’t been a lot of things to cheer about for Wild fans, especially on home ice. The Wild defeated the Los Angeles Kings in a shootout back on Oct. 13; Saturday’s win over Vancouver was just the second time the Wild won at home this season. More importantly, it stopped the bleeding of a five-game winless streak.

The Wild are still in a tough spot with a 4-6-3 overall record near the Central Division basement.

“Obviously that stretch we went thorugh it’s tough, but this is a new month,” said Vinnie Hinostroza. “We’re 1-0 in this month, if we just stick to it, we can turn this whole thing around. But it’s going to take a lot of hard work and sticking to the plan.”

2. Vladimir Tarasenko scored his second goal of the season and recorded a season-high three points.

After the Wild’s red-hot power play cooled this season, going 0-for-4 on Thursday against Pittsburgh, the Wild took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on Vladimir Tarasenko’s second goal of the season. He made a backhand move in front of the crease to finish a bit of a broken play as Joel Eriksson Ek got him the bouncing puck.

Tarasenko added a pair of assists in the game for a season-high three-point night in his first season with the Wild. It’s his 39th career game with three-plus points.

He said postgame that the winning is nice, but he also talked about needing to feel poise.

“I feel like the games we lost before, some games we have very good moments and we're improving every game,” Tarasenko said. “And it's nice to get a win obviously, but it's important to take the momentum with us, get some rest and get ready for next game.”

3. The penalty kill was perfect.

The Wild’s been carrying around the burden of being the worst team in the NHL on the penalty kill. It was just 1-for-5 through the first four games of the homestand. But Saturday? The Wild went 3-for-3 on the PK. That stat right there is a sigh of relief for the team which has struggled in this category all season.

“I think the penalty kill gave us some life today, and that’s something that, you know, I’d say the last few games didn’t happen,” said Wild coach John Hynes. “So, it was good to see.

“The guys certainly deserve to win the game tonight.”

4. Marco Rossi gave the Wild the lead for good with his third goal of the season.

Vancouver’s Drew O’Connor scored both goals for the Canucks, the first pair of the season for O’Connor. He tied the game early in the second period off the rush after Zeev Buium skated around the Canucks zone but was unable to make a play happen at the other end of the ice, resulting in a turnover.

A 1-1 game in the second period could be cause for concern based on recent Wild play. The Wild was up 1-0 in its last game against the Penguins, until surrendering four unanswered goals for the 4-1 loss.

“Our puck bounces that last couple games wasn’t really on our side,” Rossi said. “And the puck bounces today was on our side, and I think that makes a huge difference.”

But this time, Rossi and the Wild responded. The top-line center buried a bouncing puck in front of the net with six minutes, 11 seconds left in the middle period for the 2-1 lead.

5. Five different players scored a goal for the Wild – and none of them were the top three goal scorers on the team.

Kirill Kaprizov was kept off the scoresheet. Matt Boldy failed to score goal for the fifth consecutive game, although he had an assist. Marcus Johansson also didn’t score. Kaprizov came into the game as the team’s leading scorer with seven goals and 16 points. Boldy and Johansson each have five goals.

But Saturday, the Wild got scoring from three lines and five different players: Tarasenko, Rossi, Hinostroza with his first of the season, Jonas Brodin and Ryan Hartman, who added an empty-netter from all the way at the other end of the rink.   

Brodin also had an assist, Eriksson Ek had a pair of helpers and Hinostroza recorded his third assist of the season. 

"I think that was a factor that we were able to play with the lead,” Hynes said. “I think that it was nice for us to be able to do that and then increase it at certain times. I thought some of the physicality in our game, you know, also brought us life."