Anaheim Ducks comeback in third period to beat Minnesota Wild 2-1 - NHL Update
A third period comeback saw the Anaheim Ducks beat Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Tuesday, February 14th, 2012, at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota.
The win helped the Ducks keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race as they remain just eight points adrift of eighth placed Phoenix Coyotes.
Anaheim improved their record to 23-24-9 and 55 points as they lie 13th in the Western Conference.
For Minnesota Wild and coach Mike Yeo it was more of the same once again. The Wild have now dropped down to 12th spot just three points above their opponents after losing their fifth straight game.
Minnesota’s troubles were evident throughout the game as they were outshot 25-18 and were it not for some brilliant efforts by Wild goaltender Josh Harding, who kept their lead intact for the majority of the match, Minnesota could have lost by an even bigger
margin.
"We're a good enough team to close out a game when we're up 1-0," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "We're still a good enough team that we should be able to win that game. We've just got to keep fighting."
Anaheim, on the other hand, were for the most part frustrated by Harding as they looked for an equaliser.
They did not hold back on the efforts though and were rewarded in the third period with two goals four minutes apart by left winger Niklas Hagman and right winger Corey Perry.
Perry was happy with the team’s performance and said that the Ducks should keep performing in the same manner to continue racking up wins.
"We're just playing the same way the whole game and not trying to do different things or be too cute when we get down, that's what we've been doing since we've been on this roll and we have to keep doing it."
Dany Heatley gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead early in the first period with a power play goal. Marek Zidlicky and Mikko Koivu got the assist.
For the rest of the game though the Ducks dominated on offence and Minnesota like previous games during the five match skid failed to build much offence.
Harding though kept the lead intact throughout with some brilliant saves in the second period to keep out the Ducks.
Anaheim equalised at 8:17 in the third period as Hagman scored his eighth of the season with the Ducks finally managing to get the puck past Harding.
Four minutes later, Anaheim took the lead.
Corey Perry calmly collected a Luca Sbisa pass and fired in a shot over Harding’s glove to make it 2-1 and secure an important win.
Anaheim will now travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 while Minnesota will look to end a stretch of four straight home defeats as they welcome Winnipeg Jets to the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.
Tags: