NHL Update: Minnesota Wild dispatch Anaheim Ducks, 5-1
Kyle Brodziak scored a goal and assisted twice, as Minnesota Wild held on to dispatch Anaheim Ducks, 5-1, at Xcel Energy Centre on Friday night.
Eric Nystrom and Martin Havlat both tallied a goal for Minnesota, which halted a two-game skid. Mikko Koivu and Matt Cullen also found the net, while Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots for the victors.
"We definitely deserve it [the win] with the way we've been playing the last couple games," Minnesota forward Cal Clutterbuck said. "You keep working hard and those things will come through for you."
Corey Perry provided the lone offense for Anaheim, which has lost two straight games since a four-game winning streak.
Curtis McElhinney was the hard luck loser, turning away 21-of-26 shots for Ducks, who had won six consecutive contests on the road.
Anaheim got on the board first for 1-0 lead just 3 ½ minutes into the opening stanza. The goal came when Bobby Ryan let go a harmless looking shot and Perry tipped it past Backstrom's left leg.
Ducks lone lead did not last long, as Koivu knotted the game at 1-1 just 2 ½ minutes later. He stole the puck from Lubomir Visnovsky, came out from the end boards and buried it into the net on his second attempt.
Minnesota went ahead by 2-1 lead on Cullen’s shorthanded goal with nearly five minutes left in the first period. It happened so when Cullen grabbed a pass from Kyle Brodziak and buried the puck home on a breakaway.
"You get a 1-0 lead and then before you know it you turn around and you're looking at 2-1," McElhinney said.
Less than two minutes later, Nystrom doubled the advantage, 3-1, with a power-play tally with 6 ½ minutes left in the middle period. Just 27 seconds later, Minnesota built a 4-1 margin when Clutterbuck hit a shot on net and Ducks defenseman Cam
Fowler was unable to clear Brodziak from the crease. Brodziak successfully swept in a rebound of Clutterbuck’s shot.
"We were in situations where we're not supposed to do that, and those usually end up in our net. We just have to keep it more simple and play smarter," Anaheim defenseman Toni Lydman said.
Havlat accounted for the final scoring to seal the win at 5-1 on a power play with nearly three minutes left in the game.
"It was a huge win versus a team that's ahead of is in the standings and that we're chasing," said Minnesota Coach Todd Richards.
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