Minnesota Wild defeat the Anaheim Ducks 5-1 to move within one point of the play-off cut
Minnesota Wild hosted another one of the important games of Friday as they were up against the Anaheim Ducks at the Xcel Energy Centre. Both teams had different aspirations to win the game with the Ducks looking to strengthen their chances of a play-off
spot while the Wild were looking to make into the cut.
Though the Ducks took scored early in the first period to get into the lead but the Wild were able to bounce back. They made a superb come-back that saw them scoring goals every now and them and winning the game 5-1 in the end. Goal keeper of the Wild, Niklas
Backstrom was named the star selection of the game as he made 29 saves during game.
Both the teams made decent start to the game as they came up with shots on goal and displayed excellent playing skills. They combined very well and created openings for themselves. With their reluctance to go fully attacking it seemed that it would take
some time for the first goal to be scored.
However, the first goal just took four minutes to be scored. The goal was scored in favour of the Ducks by Corey Perry from a brilliant tip in shot in the 4th minute. The Wild managed to come up with some strong attacking as well which saw them
scoring in the very next minute to level the scores.
The goal was scored by Mikko Koivu from a well placed shot. Both teams continued to come across scoring chances and with the game being evenly balanced; either of the teams could have scored to get into the lead. However, much to the delight of the fans,
it was the Wild who scored in the 16th minute to take the lead. Matt Cullen was the goal scorer who scored through a brilliant flick shot.
The period ended with the Wild leading 2-1 at the end of the period. During the course of the period, the Wild made 9 goal attempts while the Ducks made 6 goal attempts.
The second period saw both teams coming out strongly offensively and creating chances for themselves regularly. However, it took some time but two quick goals were scored in the 13th minute that set the home crowd wild.
Both the goals were scored in favour of the Wild with Eric Nystrom scoring during power play and Kyle Brodziak scoring through a well placed shot to strengthen their already strong lead. The period saw both teams continuing to come across scoring chances
but the failed to score any further goals.
The period ended with the Wild leading 4-1 as they made 11 goal attempts in the period while the Ducks made 13 goal attempts.
The final 20 minutes of play saw both the teams coming up with quite a few shots on goal. However, the Wild were successful in scoring the only goal of the period through Martin Havlat during power play. The goal was scored by the Wild in the 17th
minute as a result of a brilliant flick shot.
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