Niklas Backstrom shines as Minnesota Wild rout Florida Panthers 3-2 in shootout -NHL Update
Niklas Backstrom was certainly the deciding factor of the match and the reason Minnesota won with his stupendous performance not only regulation but in the shootout as well, lifting Wild to a 3-2 victory over Florida Panthers, Thursday night, February 23, 2012, at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida.
Minnesota is now on a two-game winning streak which can be easily credited to Backstrom, who shutout Stanley Cup defending champions earlier on Sunday, 2-0.
"This is a guy that cares incredibly about what we're doing here and putting a great deal of pressure on himself to score and to try to get us wins," Wild coach, Mike Yeo, said. "The thing is it wasn't unfair on him to have those kinds of expectations, but you can see just how relieved he's been the last couple of games since he scored that first goal. He's been unbelievable out there. Hopefully this continues on that way."
Mikael Samuelsson kicked off the scoring with his eighth of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) on their first power play opportunity of the night a little over midway through the second.
Kyle Brodziak levelled the game with the equaliser at 19:40, forcing an intense third period competition with both teams tied at 1-1.
Florida’s Stephen Weiss gave Minnesota a reason to score as he was called 42 seconds into the period for a minor penalty. Matt Cullen made the added man advantage goal in the opening minute to take the much needed lead, but was short lived as Sean Bergenheim got the levelling shot with less than five minutes left to go.
Failing to score in overtime, Minnesota came out determined to do so in the shootout as Erik Christensen and Matt Cullen scored on both of Wild’s first two attempts while Backstrom kept Florida out on both to take the match easily.
Minnesota has a hot goalie and the moment, making their upcoming matchup against Dallas Stars on Sunday especially exciting.
Florida on the other hand, has not seen a win since February 12, and will be hoping to snap their four-game losing streak against Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
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