St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) – Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves and the
Minnesota Wild scored their first two power-play goals of the season in a 4-1
win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.
The Wild failed to score on their first power play in the game, moving them to
0-for-28 on the season. But Thomas Vanek scored at 19:03 of the second period
with Jamie Benn off for holding to end the drought and pick up his first goal
with Minnesota.
The Wild, who were the only team without a power-play goal entering Saturday,
went 2-for-4 on the man advantage. Nino Niederreiter scored 5:03 into the
third period with Benn off for slashing, giving the Wild their 4-1 lead.
“It was a good feeling to kind of get the monkey off our back,” said Wild
defenseman Matt Dumba. “I don’t think we were feeling it that much. We were
just sticking with our game. We knew it was going to come eventually. It was
just one of those things where we weren’t getting the bounces but hopefully
now we can get it going.”
Mikael Granlund and Matt Dumba also scored for the Wild, who have won three in
a row.
Vernon Fiddler scored for the Stars, who fell to 0-2-2 in their last four
games. Kari Lehtonen gave up four goals on 30 shots.
Granlund gave the Wild a 1-0 lead 4:21 into the second period after picking
off a clearing attempt. Seven seconds separated Dumba and Fiddler’s goals
later in the period, keeping Minnesota’s lead at one.
But Vanek gave the Wild a cushion at 19:03 of the period with a one-timer from
the slot off Zach Parise’s pass from behind the goal line.
Niederreiter deflected Ryan Suter’s shot for his goal 5:03 into the third
period.
“Stupid penalties,” said Benn. “You have to give yourself a chance to win in
the third or at least tie it up. Stupid penalties by (me) and that’s not how
you get back in the game.”
Game Notes
Minnesota has won four straight at home against Dallas and six of the last
seven … The Wild finish a three-game homestand on Tuesday against Pittsburgh
… The Stars begin a three-game homestand on Tuesday against Los Angeles.
