ST. PAUL
Womens Travis Hamonic Jersey , Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild started the season sluggishly, with a four-day break on the schedule following two flat
performances.The spark came midway through this matchup with division rival
Chicago, with a big push by Jason Zucker.Ryan Suter tied the game with 23
seconds left in the third period and Zucker scored in overtime, rallying the
Wild past the Blackhawks 4-3 on Thursday night.Zucker had two goals and an
assist, including a breakaway backhander 3:25 into the extra period. Zach Parise
sent a long pass across the red line to a streaking Zucker, whose shot zipped
between Cam Ward’s pads to give the Wild (1-1-1) their first win of the
season.“I know the way I can play, and tonight was much more like it. I think
everybody would’ve said the same thing about the first two games. We all wanted
to step up and play well,” Zucker said. “That’s what true leadership is, just
guys going out and showing it on the ice.”Suter’s takeaway gave the Wild
possession on that play, after he batted in a backhander off a short-handed
rebound of Parise’s shot to make it 3-3. The 14-year veteran defenseman, coming
off a career-threatening ankle injury in April, had two assists.“The first one’s
always the toughest,” Suter said, adding: “It was good to find a way to win. It
wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t really matter.”Particularly his tying goal that
emerged from a mass of bodies in front of the net.“When they were banging it on
the post, I didn’t see Suter right there on the top of the crease,” Ward said.
“That’s desperation on their part, and good on them.”Alex DeBrincat had two
goals and an assist for the Blackhawks, including a go-ahead score on a power
play early in the third period, but Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves for the Wild
including a thumping denial with his pad of Patrick Kane’s close-range try in
overtime.Jonathan Toews kept up his season-opening surge with two assists for
the Blackahwks. He set up DeBrincat’s first score during a 4-on-4 with a hard
stop on a rush to slide the puck across the slot. Then he fed rookie Dominik
Kahun for his first NHL goal less than three minutes later.Patrick Kane assisted
on DeBrincat’s second score, giving the Toews-Kane-DeBrincat trio a whopping 22
points in four games. Toews has a team-leading five goals and three assists for
the Blackhawks (2-0-2)
Troy Brouwer Jersey , who have 18 goals in four games after missing the playoffs last spring for the first time in 10 years.Still, on a power play with
1:17 remaining in the third period, they couldn’t help but be frustrated with
the outcome.“We should’ve been able to put it away,” DeBrincat said. “We
should’ve been able to keep it in their zone and maybe even get a few scoring
chances.”Ward, keeping the net warm for the expected return next week of Corey
Crawford from a concussion that cut short his 2017-18 season, made a season-high
42 saves for the Blackhawks. Each of their four games have been decided in
overtime.“They went to the net hard,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said,
“but he stood his ground and played well.”Eric Staal scored for Minnesota in the
second period, and Zucker tied it with 2.8 seconds left before the second
intermission by snagging Staal’s off-target pass and knocking it past Ward.“It
gives you a better vibe, confidence,” Staal said. “It wasn’t the be-all,
end-all, but it’s big to get that first win.”NOTES: The 20-year-old DeBrincat,
playing on the Toews-anchored first line with Kahun, has 59 points in 86 career
games. … The Wild are 12-4-1 in their last 17 games against the Blackhawks. … RW
J.T. Brown made his debut with the Wild after being scratched the first two
games. He replaced Matt Hendricks on the fourth line. … The Wild are 0 for 7 on
the power play this season. … LW Alexandre Fortin, who played on the third line
for the Blackhawks with Chris Kunitz and Artem Anisimov, made his NHL debut.
He’s already the fourth Blackhawks player to do so this season. One of them is
Luke Johnson, who was scratched to make room for Fortin. … This was Zucker’s
second career overtime goal.UP NEXTBlackhawks: Host the St. Louis Blues on
Saturday.Wild: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Talk about your
dramatic wins.The Minnesota Wild might not have a better win this season than
their first, a 4-3 overtime decision Thursday night over the Chicago Blackhawks
that featured a short-handed equalizer in the last 25 seconds of regulation and
a game-winning breakaway goal from Jason Zucker.“If this is how the year is
going to be, I won’t have any hair left at the end of it,” Minnesota coach Bruce
Boudreau quipped.Article continues below ...With a two-point game in their
pocket for the first time
http://www.hurricanesshoponline.com/authentic-andrei-svechnikov-jersey , the Wild try to push above .500 Saturday in a late-afternoon clash with the
Carolina Hurricanes that finishes a three-game homestand.Minnesota (1-1-1) came
into the game against Chicago looking for offense. The Wild found it,
outshooting the Blackhawks 46-30 after being outshot 82-51 in the first two
games. They finally sustained puck possession and drove play.Chicago goalie Cam
Ward made a spate of outstanding saves that probably prevented Minnesota from
scoring six or seven goals, yet the Wild were in danger of losing again after
Mikael Granlund took a holding minor at 18:43 of the third period.But Minnesota
took advantage of the Blackhawks’ inability to maintain puck control. Eric Staal
and Zack Parise pumped shots at Ward, who saved them both. However, defenseman
Ryan Suter, who rarely ventures below the point on offense, got to the top of
the blue paint and poked home a rebound to force overtime.“Just desperation …
just trying to get to the net and help out,” Suter said.Zucker wrapped things up
in overtime with his second goal of the night, capping one of the best games for
anyone in the league during the first week-plus. He finished with three points,
a plus-four plus-minus rating and put 10 shots on net.He was a prime reason why
the Wild tied their fourth-highest shot total in a game and equaled their
second-most shots on goal in a home game.“I wasn’t happy with how I played the
first two games,” Zucker said. “I thought I had some good spurts. It just wasn’t
good enough. I know the way I can play and tonight was much more like it. I
think everybody would have said the same thing about the first two games.”While
Minnesota found some footing, Carolina (3-0-1) has been on solid ground from the
opener, when it outshot the New York Islanders 46-20 but lost 2-1 in overtime.
It has won three straight since then, including a 5-3 decision Tuesday night
over Vancouver.Under first-year coach Rod Brind’Amour, the Hurricanes have found
their scoring touch, registering 17 goals, the third-highest total through four
games in franchise history.“We want to play that way offensively,” he said.
“That’s the way we have to play. We have good talent, and we have to use it to
our advantage. Now we have to get better at the other end. I think there’s a lot
of room for improvement, which is a positive that we’re still finding ways to
get wins.”
