Trailing by one after two periods, the Minnesota Wild looked like the team playing the second half of back-to-back games. A six-goal outburst in the third period changed that, and the Wild won 6-2 against the Dallas Stars at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday. Minnesota (31-21-7) has won three straight games and moved into the second wild-card position in the Western Conference for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Wild are 11-1-1 since the All-Star break. The six-goal third is a Wild record for one period. Dallas (27-24-9), which lost 7-6 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, has allowed 10 goals in its past two third periods. The Stars are six points behind the Wild, and they have played one more game than Minnesota. Through two periods, many of Minnesota's 20 shots on goal had come from the perimeter. The Wild had hoped to jump on loose pucks, but they were unable to win those battles until the third, when the Stars defensemen began to wear down. That's when Minnesota pounced. Zach Parise tied the game at 1-1 at the 1:40 mark, standing at the back door and finishing off a backhand feed from defenseman Christian Folin from the left corner. Less than two minutes later, Mikko Koivu's shot from a bad angle below the left circle beat Jhonas Enroth five-hole to give the Wild the lead.
Stephane Veilleux shoveled in a loose puck after a Marco Scandella shot from the point hit traffic in front at 8:41, and Matt Dumba made it 4-1 with a power-play goal from the right faceoff dot at 13:25. Mikael Granlund took a stretch pass from defenseman Nate Prosser and scored on a breakaway at 14:33 to make it 5-1. Enroth denied Granlund on a breakaway chance earlier in the third.
Parise's second of the night came at 17:52 and made it 6-1. His 25 goals lead the Wild. Koivu took back-to-back penalties in the second period, and the Stars took advantage on the second one, a delay of game call for shooting the puck over the glass at 13:45. Jason Spezza ripped a slap shot from the right circle, beating Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk glove side at 14:33. Spezza also scored the final goal of the game with 1:43 remaining, beating Dubnyk five-hole on a short break for his 14th goal. Spezza's power-play goal was the first allowed by Minnesota since Jan. 20, a span of 32 man-advantages, two shy of the Wild record of 34. Dubnyk made 18 saves for his 22nd win this season. He's 13-2-1 with a 1.64 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage since being acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes on Jan. 14. Enroth made 29 saves. In three starts against the Wild this season, including two with the Buffalo Sabres, he's allowed 18 goals. Dallas will wrap up a stretch of three games in four nights Tuesday with another important Central Division game against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre. The Wild will host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday before road games against the Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators later in the week.
Stars Quotes
Lindy Ruff: "It was embarrassing. We lost some battles, their determination was better than ours, and it led to goals. We had four guys in front of our net on one goal. That just can't happen."Jamie Benn: "A back-to-back is no excuse. You got a 1-0 lead after two periods and come out in the third and lay an egg and give up six goals. It's embarrassing. We let our goalie ... we left him hanging tonight when he played a good game."
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