Wild comeback cools off streaking Stars
A guy who is having a comment season late in his career spurred a announcement win for the Minnesota Wild on Thursday Veteran forward Marcus Johansson had goals in each of his first two seasons in Minnesota He scored his th and th goals of this season in the third period helping the Wild to a - win over the previously red-hot Dallas Stars Johansson had the eventual game-winner as the Wild s even-strength offense created traffic around the Stars net much of the night Dallas which came to town on a - - run got power play and shorthanded goals but fell for the first time in December Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson had saves in the domination which snapped a streak that had seen Minnesota go its previous games versus Dallas without a regulation win We didn t have any passengers tonight Wild coach John Hynes noted I thought everyone contributed We knew coming into the encounter against a crew like that you have to play strong discipline and attention to detail The Wild got a first-period goal from Joel Eriksson Ek Zach Bogosian scored in the second while Matt Boldy added an empty-net goal and two assists Johansson s second goal hit an empty net as well The Wild are now - - in their past home games When we re playing good everyone s on the same page it s a five-man unit making it hard and taking space away mentioned Boldy who has six points in the Wild s past three games We re blocking shots and doing the little things I think that s the biggest thing The Wild tested Stars goalie Jake Oettinger thoroughly and repeatedly early in the challenge outshooting Dallas - in the challenge s first nine minutes Then Ryan Hartman took a penalty and the first Stars shot of the meeting on the ensuing power play was deflected past Gustavsson as the visitors took the early lead The deficit seemed to stun the Wild who went the next seven minutes without a shot But they forged a tie late in the first when Eriksson Ek popped in the rebound of a Matt Boldy shot It was Eriksson Ek s second goal in as multiple games Minnesota s power play got its first chance early in the middle frame and controlled the offensive zone getting pucks near but not over the goal line It was the th consecutive penalty killed off by Dallas On the Wild s second power play of the tournament the Dallas penalty killers did one better retaking the lead on a blast from the blue line It was the first shorthanded goal the Wild have allowed this season Dallas appeared to take a - lead barely two minutes later but Minnesota successfully challenged the play for offside and what would have been Wyatt Johnston s th goal of the year came off the board Then the Wild drew even again when Bogosian ripped a shot from the blue line that beat Oettinger over the right shoulder It was the first goal of the season for Bogosian who missed games due to injury in October and November Minnesota took its first lead near the midway point of the third when Boldy s pinpoint cross-ice pass set up Johansson for a pop-in before Oettinger could get post to post You ve constantly got to expect it from him so it was a great play by him Johansson disclosed of Boldy We kind of tried that faceoff play a sparse times and it worked out perfectly Vying to be Organization USA s top goalie in the coming Olympics Oettinger finished with saves for the Stars who had not lost a challenge in regulation since Nov With forward Mats Zuccarello and defenseman Jake Middleton placed on injured reserve earlier in the day forward Nicolas Aub -Kubel and defenseman Matt Kiersted were called up from Iowa Both skated in warmups but neither was in the lineup versus Dallas The Wild who are in the midst of a stretch where they have seven of eight games at home next host Ottawa on Saturday afternoon Briefly Members of the U S Hockey Hall of Fame s class of who were officially inducted on Wednesday night in St Paul were introduced on the ice at Grand Casino Arena during the second intermission Fans gave a warm ovation to Bloomington native Zach Parise who spent nine seasons with the Wild and is fifth on the franchise s all-time scoring list In his induction speech Parise thanked Wild owner Craig Leipold and then-general manager Chuck Fletcher for giving him the chance to play at home when Minnesota signed him in Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger defends his net against Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek during the second period of an NHL hockey meeting Thursday Dec in St Paul Minn AP Photo Matt Krohn ST PAUL MINNESOTA - DECEMBER Zach Parise acknowledges the crowd while being honored as a inductee into the U S Hockey Hall of Fame during a competition between the Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Stars at Grand Casino Arena on December in St Paul Minnesota Photo by Ellen Schmidt Getty Images
