DETROIT – He wanted to get rid of the puck as soon as it his stick.
But since he saw it rolling, Kevin Fiala scrapped the one-timer, settled the puck down and then sent it into the back of the net.
"I was happy it went in," he said.
At the time, Fiala's goal was a much-needed insurance tally for the Wild during the third period Tuesday since it was clinging to a one-goal lead and getting overwhelmed by the Blue Jackets. It morphed into the game-winner once Columbus scored again, the decisive marker in a 5-4 win for the Wild at Xcel Energy Center.
The next time out, Thursday in Detroit, he was back in the spotlight — recording three points in a 7-1 shellacking of the Red Wings, continuing a run that has Fiala tied with center Eric Staal for the most points on the team at 45.
And what's been especially impressive about the tear is how meaningful his contributions have been.
"Just gotta keep it going," Fiala said.
Over his past 12 games, Fiala has 17 points and nine goals. Two rang up as game-winners, two opened the scoring and one tied the game.
When he gets on the ice, he's confident he can be a difference maker — more so than at the beginning of the season. What has helped this growth is how comfortable Fiala feels in his surroundings — familiarity that has blossomed in the time he's been with the team, with Tuesday the one-year anniversary of his trade from the Predators for forward Mikael Granlund.
His impact is also highlighted by the improvement he's made all over the ice.
"Kevin is such a more complete player than he's ever been," said interim coach Dean Evason, who also coached Fiala when Fiala was in the minors with Nashville's American Hockey League affiliate. "He clearly has offensive ability, but what he's committed to is playing a team game, playing a defensive game, and that's allowed him to be on the ice more to use his offensive talents."
Center stage
The Wild used the same lineup Thursday as it did Tuesday, and that meant Alex Galchenyuk remained at center after making the move from wing during the win over the Blue Jackets.
"Really liked him," Evason said. "What we like is how heavy he's playing the game. He's obviously got skill, but he's playing heavy. You see him finishing checks. You see him outmuscling people for loose pucks down in our zone, and we just like how heavy he's playing in the right areas and not cheating to get out."
Mayhew homecoming
Winger Gerald Mayhew was in familiar territory Thursday, growing up about 20 minutes south of Detroit in Wyandotte.
"I was hoping to play in this game because it's in front of all my friends and family," said Mayhew, whose cellphone was flooded with more than 100 text messages from people telling him they were coming to the game. "Either way, coming here would've been fun seeing the family. It's exciting."
This is Mayhew's second stint with the Wild this season and in his first game back Tuesday, he logged 14 minutes, 24 seconds and had two shots on net while playing on the Wild's top line next to Fiala and Staal.
"We thought he had some nice looks on the power play on that line," Evason said. "We thought he played with a lot of energy, which we were asking for, the speed to get up the ice. … that line had a couple goals, and we thought he conducted himself extremely well."
