Mikko Koivu’s game winner in overtime lifted the Wild to a 3-2 victory in Calgary Wednesday night.
The Wild took an early lead, saw Calgary come back, but then won it in overtime to pick up the extra point. Minnesota is now one point behind San Jose for the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
Once again, the Wild took the early lead. Justin Fontaine put Minnesota on the scoreboard with his fifth goal of the season – a wrister that slipped by Calgary goaltender Jonas Hiller.
Less than three minutes later the Wild pushed the lead to 2-0 when Matt Dumba scored a goal in his hometown.
But Calgary battled back, as they have been known to do this year. After Jiri Hudler cut the Wild lead to one before the end of the first, Calgary quieted the Minnesota offense through the rest of regulation.
Half way through the third period, Lance Bouma’s 11th goal of the season evened the score at two and forced overtime.
But in overtime it was Koivu, who got the last say.
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4th career overtime winner
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 19, 2015
Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk was excellent in net again, he stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced.
The Wild play at Edmonton on Friday night.
Scoring Summary
1st period: 8:40 MIN – Justin Fontaine (5) Wrist shot – Assist: Thomas Vanek (25), Charlie Coyle (16) 1-0 MIN
1st period: 11:36 MIN – Matt Dumba (3) Wrist shot – Assist: Jonas Brodin (7), Devan Dubnyk (2) 2-0 MIN
1st period: 17:08 CGY – Jiri Hudler (19) Tip in – Assist: Dennis Wideman (22), Sean Monahan (20) 2-1 MIN
3rd period: 10:14 CGY – Lance Bouma (11) Snap shot – Wideman (23), Michael Backlund (10) 2-2 Tie
Overtime: 1:50 MIN – Mikko Koivu (9) Wrist shot – Coyle (17), Marco Scandella (10) 3-2 MIN
