MN Wild Veteran Calls Out Vegas ‘Tough Guy’
· Yahoo Sports
The now 4-1-1 Minnesota Wild got plenty out of Monday night’s 4-2 win over Vegas, where three first-period goals in a span of 5:07 put them up early at home against Vegas.
Even better, two of the three were scored by young Russians Danila Yurov and Max Shabanov. If this team wants to continue its hot streak, production out of those two will be crucial.
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Per usual, Jesper Wallstedt looked really good in net, making 21 saves, including a few late that kept the Golden Knights from completing a furious third period comeback. Now, the MN Wild sit alone atop the Central Division, with 9 points.
Monday’s final boxscore is only part of the story from last night’s win, however. After, the loss of Nico Sturm to a head injury in the first period hung over the locker room.
It happened the same night Brock Faber returned to Grand Casino Arena, Sturm was hit in the ear hole by a puck just like he was. Now, we await details on another brutal head injury this week.
Rieger Lorenz drops gloves for the first time
Lost in the shuffle of last night’s storylines was rookie Rieger Lorenz’ first NHL fight, which came early in the third period when the 22-year-old was challenged to drop gloves with Vegas veteran Jeremy Lauzon. To his credit, the 2026 National Champion out of Denver did not back down.
Fists were just FLYING in this fight between Lorenz and Lauzon 🥊 All gas no brakes in this short tilt 😳 https://t.co/ICjpVCGTOz
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 13, 2026
Jeremy Lauzon welcomes Rieger Lorenz to the NHL. https://t.co/FECJpuLUSY
— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) October 13, 2026
Lorenz was recalled from Iowa on Oct. 9 when Nick Foligno went on injured reserve. While this was his first recorded fight, the rookie — who did not come into the league with any sort of fighting acumen — was given a 10-minute misconduct late in his debut Saturday at Florida.
On Monday, he skated 9:00 on a line with Yurov and Bobby Brink. The Athletic’s Michael Russo called that line sensational. In addition to notching his first official throwdown, Rieger Lorenz also collected his first-ever NHL point on against the Golden Knights, via assist on Danila Yurov’s goal in the first period.
Lorenz and Jeremy Lauzon dropped the gloves at 2:36 of the third period with Minnesota leading 3-1, and both players were given five-minute fighting majors. Unlike the kid he challenged to fight, Lauzon is a 29-year-old defenseman with 391 games of NHL experience.
Michael McCarron not happy about how fight went down
While the rookie had a smile on his face after the fight and appeared proud of himself for stepping up, despite taking the brunt of the punishment, some of his teammates were not impressed by Lauzon’s decision to challenge the youngster in the first place.
One of those veteran teammates was Michael McCarron, who commended the Wild rookie for stepping up to the challenge before turning to his displeasure with Winnipeg’s tough guy, who clearly instigated the altercation.
Michael McCarron thought it was ridiculous Jeremy Lauzon challenged a rookie in Rieger Lorenz playing his second game to a fight: "Lauzon, he’s an older guy, he knows Rieger’s a young kid. I didn’t like what he did. At the same time, I thought Rieger did a great job. He stood in there and he’s willing and stand up for himself. He did a great job.”
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 13, 2026
Related: MN Wild Place Veteran Forward on IR, Call Up Rookie for NHL Debut
Michael McCarron, a 6-foot-6, 232-pound forward who has never shied away from dropping the gloves during his career. According to his career penalty log, McCarron has been in the box 45 times over his 10-year NHL career for Major Fighting penalties. HockeyFights.com backs up that number, as well.
Minnesota is already short on forwards. Nick Foligno, Marcus Foligno and now possibly Nico Sturm are out, so Lorenz should keep getting looks until that changes. On Tuesday night in Winnipeg, we should see him plenty, as the Wild wrap up their back-to-back against the Jets.
And the next time the Wild play Vegas, I have a feeling Jeremy Lauzon will be seeing plenty of Michael McCarron.