Wild sneak past Ducks in Kahkonen's first start

*Photo from Pioneer Press*

   What a season debut for young Minnesota Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen. Kahkonen stopped 22 shots, Ryan Hartman scored short handed, and the Wild snuck past the Anaheim Ducks with a 3-2 win Wednesday night, improving to 3-1 on the new season. 

   Hartman started the scoring for the Wild with his short handed goal at 13:51 of the first period to put them up 1-0. In the second, at 5:50, Nick Bonino lengthened the lead to 2-0 on a power play goal. Later, at 8:58, Nicolas Deslauriers got the Ducks on the board to make it a 2-1 Wild lead. Anaheim tied it at two at 12:21 of the second on Cam Fowler's goal. In the 3rd, Joel Eriksson-Ek scored for the Wild, making the score 3-2, which held. 

   Hartman addressed the team depth, which so far has underwhelmed, saying that "We know we can score. We've got a lot of guys that have skill that can put the puck in the net at any point of the game. We're confident that if it's late in the third or if it's the first two shifts from each line, we've got a lot of skill up and down the lineup and a lot of good talent, especially there on those top two lines."

   Wild coach Dean Evason also talked about the depth, saying that "There's some guys that haven't got points, but we have points and that's the key. We have points as a team and everybody's buying into that, and we have to continue to do that. We know people are going to have success individually scoring goals, and we know our power play is going to score. But the most important thing is the end result of the team." 

   The Wild head home to face the San Jose Sharks, where Cam Talbot is expected to start for the Wild. The Ducks welcome the Colorado Avalanche, where John Gibson is expected to start for Anaheim.