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Sports

Wild host Flyers aiming to snap 4-game skid

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Minnesota Wild hope to halt their losing streak at four straight games on Monday night as they play host to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Wild are coming off getting swept in a home-and-home set versus the Colorado Avalanche. They dropped a 3-1 decision at home on Friday -- the club's third straight regulation loss -- before salvaging a point with Saturday's 3-2 shootout defeat in Denver.

Minnesota got two goals in the final 3:27 of the third period to force overtime, with Matt Cooke getting the rally started before Mikko Koivu's tying goal with 5.7 seconds left.

However, Koivu was one of three Minnesota skaters stopped in the shootout, while Ryan O'Reilly had the lone goal of the tiebreaker as he beat Josh Harding in the third round.

"Some nights you just face a hot goaltender," said Koivu. "We got that tonight."

Harding had 23 saves for Minnesota, which has been outscored 11-4 on non- shootout goals over its skid.

The Wild are looking to avoid dropping five in a row for the first time since Feb. 28-March 6, 2012.

Harding, who started both games of the home-and-home set, lost his only career start vs Flyers, giving up five goals on 34 shots faced on Jan. 17, 2012. Niklas Backstrom is 1-3-0 with a 3.73 goals against average in four career starts versus the Flyers.

Philadelphia opened up a six-game road trip with a 3-2 shootout win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday. It was the Flyers' second straight win overall and improved them to 8-2-1 in the past 11.

Vincent Lecavalier notched the lone goal of the shootout and Steve Mason made 34 saves. Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier scored in regulation, with the latter's tally coming with 6:54 to go in regulation to tie the game.

"It's nice to get a win in the shootout. I'm not a big fan but I'll take the two points," Mason admitted. "It's a huge step. Even without our best effort, to come out and get a win is huge."

Mason is 4-6-1 with a 2.79 GAA in 11 career meetings with the Wild.

Philadelphia has won two straight and six of its past eight versus Minnesota, going 2-2-0 with a tie in five all-time road meetings with the Wild.