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 Trailing in the third period, Minnesota exploded for a six-pack
of goals to beat the Stars 6-2, moving back into the playoff picture
after being all but left for dead in January.
Trailing 1-0 with 19 minutes to play, Minnesota got a pair of goals
from left winger Zach Parise and single goals from center Mikko
Koivu, left winger Stephane Veilleux, defenseman Matt Dumba and
center Mikael Granlund, improving to a NHL-best 13-2-2 in its past
17 games. For the first time since late November, Minnesota moved
into the top eight in the Western Conference with the win.
"It's nice to get in there, and nice to make a little movement in
the standings for us," Parise said. "It felt like for the longest
time we were winning and not going anywhere. It's a long way to go,
but you've got to get in sometime and somehow, and it's nice to be
back in."
Center Jason Spezza scored twice -- a second-period power-play goal
and an even-strength goal in the final minutes -- for Dallas, which
is now winless (0-2-1) in its past three games. Goalie Jhonas
Enroth, making his third start for the Stars since coming over in a
trade from Buffalo, made 29 saves in the loss.
 "There's no excuse," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "We got a 1-0
lead after two periods and we come out in the third and you lay an
egg and give up six goals, it's embarrassing. We left our goalie
hanging tonight."
Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk continued his run of success with 18
saves. He is now 13-2-1 for the Wild since joining the team on Jan.
15 after starting the season with the Arizona Coyotes. The Wild beat
Enroth, then with the Sabres, 7-0 in Dubnyk's first start for
Minnesota last month.
"We just believe we can do it in here," Dubnyk said. "The
conversation between the second and third period was exactly that;
just a strong belief in here that if we went out there and did what
we were capable of doing that we could take the game over. Obviously
you never expect to put up six in a period."
Although the Wild coach joked that he fully expected the offensive
explosion.
"Yeah, I totally saw it coming," said Mike Yeo, with a laugh. "I
felt that even though we were doing some good things we still hadn't
played our best. Coming back from the road we didn't have complete
energy and execution. We were doing some good things, but I knew
there was another level we could get to in our game."
The game remained scoreless until late in the second period, when
Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin was hit in the head by a Stars'
shot and appeared dazed. Koivu tried to clear the puck to give
Brodin a chance to get off the ice, and instead sent it over the
glass, drawing a delay-of-game penalty.
On the ensuing power play, the Stars snapped Minnesota's streak at
32 straight penalty kills and got on the board when Spezza took a
pass from defenseman John Klingberg and blasted a slap shot from the
right circle that sailed over Dubnyk's left shoulder. It was the
seventh time in Dallas' last eight games that Spezza recorded at
least a point.
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Parise tied the game 100 seconds into the third period, slamming
home a cross-ice pass from rookie defenseman Christian Folin. Less
than two minutes later, Koivu gave his team the lead, grabbing a
loose puck and throwing a wide angle shot toward the net. Enroth
lifted his stick just enough in an attempt to deflect the puck away,
but it went between his skates and in the net instead.
"We lost some battles, their determination was better than ours and
it led to goals," said Stars coach Lindy Ruff, who didn't pin blame
on Enroth. "The second goal was maybe a tough one, but after that I
don't know if you can look past that."
Veilleux shoveled a puck past Enroth during a scramble in front of
the net for his first goal of the season. Goals by Dumba and
Granlund, and a second from Parise, followed.
Spezza slipped a shot between Dubnyk's pads with 1:43 left to play
for his first multi-goal game of the season. It was just the second
time this season that Dallas lost in regulation when holding a lead
after 40 minutes.
NOTES: Stars RW Ales Hemsky returned to regular action and had a
pair of assists in Saturday's 7-6 shootout loss to the Detroit Red
Wings after missing the previous three games with a lower-body
injury. Dallas is taking a more cautious approach with LW Patrick
Eaves, who has been out of the lineup since Feb. 13 due to a
concussion. Eaves, who previously dealt with multiple concussion
problems, did not come along on Dallas' road trip. ... As part of
Hockey Weekend Across America, the Wild honored seven players and
the coach of USA Hockey's Women's National U-18 team prior to the
game. Team USA defeated Canada for the gold medal in the IIHF U-18
World Championship on Jan. 12 in Buffalo, N.Y. Six of the seven
players recognized by the Wild and coach Joel Johnson are from
Minnesota, while one player hails from just across the border in
Hudson, Wis. ... The Stars' brief two-game road trip concludes
Tuesday when they visit the Winnipeg Jets. The Wild are in the midst
of a brief two-game homestand and will host the Edmonton Oilers on
Tuesday.
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