|
 Right winger Tim Jackman and left winger Matt Beleskey scored
third-period goals for the Ducks, who rallied to beat the Minnesota
Wild 5-4 on Friday.
Trailing 4-3 in the final period of a game they had led 3-0, Jackman
and Beleskey both fooled Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper with low
shots as the Ducks won their third in a row, and their fifth
consecutive game in Minnesota.
The Ducks (17-6-5) also got a pair of goals from center Ryan Kesler
and a goal from right winger Jakob Silfverberg, but might have
suffered a costly loss when right winger Corey Perry was injured in
the first period. Beleskey got the game-winner after a pass from
center Ryan Getzlaf, re-directing a shot between Kuemper's skates.
"That's just a hockey game, I guess," Beleskey said. "I don't know
how you explain it. That's not how you draw it up, but it's two
points at the end of the day."
Trailing by three in the second period, Minnesota got goals from
center Mikko Koivu, left winger Zach Parise and defenseman Jonas
Brodin to tie the game at 3-3 after 40 minutes. Right winger Justin
Fontaine scored early in the third to give the Wild (14-10-1) a 4-3
lead, before Anaheim turned the tables.
 "We didn't have the start that we needed and we put ourselves behind
the eight-ball and didn't have a great feeling right from the
start," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "Did a great job battling back.
Give our guys credit for that."
Kuemper finished with 13 saves, but was pulled after Anaheim's fifth
goal. Nicklas Backstrom finished the game in goal, stopping all
three shots he faced. The bright spot for Minnesota was its power
play, which has struggled all season but scored twice on Friday.
"Definitely tough to give that up once guys worked so hard to get
back to where we were," said Kuemper, who has been lifted from four
of his past nine starts. "I felt good. I didn't feel like I was
fighting the puck at all. I didn't feel like I was giving up bad
goals either. They had some good shots and beat me, but five goals
isn't good enough."
Anaheim took the lead on its first shot of the game, when a pass
re-directed by right winger Kyle Palmieri in the neutral zone found
Kesler behind the Wild defense. His snap shot beat Kuemper on the
stick side just 91 seconds into the game.
With the Ducks on the first power play of the game, Perry charged up
the near boards with the puck and was upended by a hip check
delivered by Wild defenseman Keith Ballard. Perry's left knee
appeared to hyperextend due to the check, and the Ducks' leading
goal scorer was helped off the ice in obvious distress.
"Ballard's done that a couple times now, where he hits low," Ducks
coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I don't know if it was too low or what
because I didn't want to look at it yet. I'll look at it on the
plane, but it is what it is and we'll just readjust."
Ballard was not penalized on the play, but came out on the short end
of a fight with Anaheim center Nate Thompson a few minutes later.
[to top of second column] |
Anaheim doubled its lead shortly after the return to five-on-five
play. Kuemper stopped a wide angle shot by center Andrew Cogliano,
but Silfverberg, parked at the top of the crease, popped the rebound
between the goalie's knees for a 2-0 lead.
After Kesler made it 3-0 early in the second with a shot from the
top of the right circle, the Ducks got into penalty trouble.
Back-to-back infractions gave Minnesota an extended 5-on-3 power
play, and the Wild's much-maligned man-advantage unit finally cashed
in. Koivu, the team captain, got Minnesota on the board with his
fourth goal of the season, shooting from a wide angle.
Just 11 seconds later, with the Wild still on the power play, Parise
streaked down the left side and ripped a shot from the top of the
circle that slid between the goalie's knees, making the score 3-2.
Kesler thought he'd completed the hat trick later in the middle
period when his shot bounced high off Kuemper and landed in the
crease behind the goalie. With the puck headed for the goal line,
Wild defenseman Nate Prosser smothered it, then shoveled the puck
away with his hand. After a video replay, officials ruled no goal,
saying the puck had not clearly crossed the goal line.
On the next shift, Minnesota knotted the game 3-3 when Brodin's
seeing-eye shot from the blue line found the upper right corner of
the net behind Andersen.
"That's a little bit of a wet blanket in your face," said Andersen,
who finished with 21 saves. "Obviously when they score right after
that, that's a little bit of momentum for them and they get their
fans into it."
NOTES: Ducks D Colby Robak, acquired in a trade with Florida on
Thursday, was in the building but did not suit up for Anaheim. He
was issued jersey number 48. ... Minnesota was without D Ryan Suter
for the second consecutive game. The team's alternate captain has
been diagnosed with the mumps. He skated in practice with the team
on Friday, but coaches chose to hold him out of the lineup. ...
Anaheim D Mark Fistric returned to the lineup for just the fourth
game this season. He last played on Oct. 30 at St. Louis and had
missed 16 games while dealing with a lower back injury. ... The Wild
close out their four-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting the New York
Islanders before embarking on a three-game road swing. Anaheim's
quick two-game road trip concludes Sunday when the Ducks visit the
Winnipeg Jets.
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