Kevin Fiala Extends Point Streak, Ties Wild Record
Kevin Fiala extended his point streak to 12 games on Wednesday night in a 5-0 win for the Minnesota Wild over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.
Fiala’s second-period assist gave the Wild the first goal of the game, and his team would eventually take a 3-0 advantage into the third period. Once in the third, Fiala added a goal of his own to give him two points on the night.
Also coming away with an important two points is the Wild. With the win, Minnesota extended its point streak to ten games (9-0-1), continuing its hot stretch that led it through the month of January.
Entering the All-Star break, the Wild are in third place in the Central Division, though their point percentage ranks second in the Western Conference.
For Fiala, his 12-game point streak ties a franchise record for consecutive games on the scoresheet. Forward Mikael Granlund, who is having a solid season with the Nashville Predators this year, previously set the mark at 12 games for Minnesota in the 2016-2017 campaign.
Kevin Fiala ties the Wild record for the longest player point streak.
During his 12-game scoring marathon, Fiala has racked up nine goals and seven assists for 16 total points. Those nine goals are the most a player has scored for Minnesota while on a scoring streak, while his 16 points are one shy of the 17 points that Granlund compiled during his streak a few seasons ago.
Fiala has been especially impressive in his last four games, where he has totaled seven points and has chipped in two points in a game on three occasions. On the season, his third full campaign with the team, Fiala has 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points and is a plus-10.
It should be noted that current teammate Mats Zuccarello had his own double-digit point streak end on Sunday against the New York Islanders. He had scored in ten straight contests and recorded 18 points (five goals and 13 assists) in that time.
There have been six point streaks of ten games or more in the Wild’s franchise history, with Granlund recording two of them. Now, Fiala has a chance to set a new mark at the top of that list of scoring streaks when Minnesota takes on the Winnipeg Jets next week.
Ironically enough, Fiala was acquired by Minnesota from Nashville in exchange for Granlund, whose record he has now matched and will look to break. The February 2019 trade was one-for-one.
With games coming sparingly right now for the Wild, it surely isn’t easy to maintain Fiala’s level of momentum. Nevertheless, the next time he takes the ice, he will be attempting to set a new Minnesota Wild franchise record.