Florida Panthers 1
Minnesota Wild 3
Third-period goals from Erik Haula and Jason Pominville helped push the Wild past the Florida Panthers 3-1 Sunday, snapping Minnesota’s three-game losing streak – and a much longer losing streak at the Xcel.
1) All tied up after two periods
Things were tied 1-1 heading into the third period, thanks to a goal from Charlie Coyle in the first frame (his 19th of the season), followed by Panther Aaron Ekblad knotting things up 7:34 into the second period. The score stayed that way until a breakaway from Haula just over halfway through the third period.
.@ehaula scores his 8th of the season to give #mnwild the 2-1 lead. #FLAvsMIN pic.twitter.com/vT2SdafTmN
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 28, 2016
Pominville got an empty-netter then with 39 seconds to go in the contest, sealing the win.
2) Getting a win at (real) home
Before Sunday, the Wild had won one home game in 2016 – and that came outside at TCF Bank Stadium. This is Minnesota’s first ‘W’ at the Xcel Energy Center all year. Minnesota’s last victory at their normal home rink came Dec. 28 against the Red Wings.
Coyle: "We want to feel good playing in this building." #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 28, 2016
The Wild had also lost three straight games coming into Sunday’s matchup.
3) Dubnyk back in net, Parise back on the ice
Devan Dubnyk returned to the net for the Wild. He missed Friday’s loss to the Capitals because of what was described as “maintenance” following a collision last week, the Star Tribune reported. In his return, the 29-year-old stopped 17 of the Panthers’ 18 shots to get the victory.
Also back: Zach Parise. The forward missed the past two games with an upper body injury. And he got back on the stat sheet quick, assisting on Coyle’s first-period goal (Parise’s 37th point of the season).
Tweet of the game
Mikko Koivu played his 744th career game with Minnesota Sunday, becoming the franchise’s all-time games played leader. The Wild organization aired a tribute to the captain and 32-year-old Finland native.
#CapFinn Koivu, the new #mnwild franchise games played leader. #nhlfihttps://t.co/UhzsuVWder
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 28, 2016
#mnwild recognizing Mikko Koivu for breaking all-time record with 744 games pic.twitter.com/FpIWNnf4hF
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 28, 2016
Up next
A couple things actually. The NHL trade deadline is 2 p.m. CST on Monday. Here’s TSN’s trade tracker if you want to keep up with all the moves so far.
The Wild (28-25-10) don’t play Monday, but have a division matchup Tuesday. Minnesota hosts the Avalanche (32-28-4) at 7 p.m. – Colorado is 2 points ahead of the Wild for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
