Bouchard scores in OT to lift Wild over Ducks
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored on Minnesota's second breakaway of overtime against Dan Ellis, Jose Theodore made 19 of his 46 saves in the second period, and the Wild sent the Anaheim Ducks to their fifth straight loss with a 3-2 victory on Friday night.
Ellis, making his Ducks debut after joining them in a trade from Tampa Bay on Thursday, fanned on a 55-foot slap shot by Clayton Stoner that sneaked between his pads with 4:57 left in the third period as Minnesota grabbed a 2-1 lead.
Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin took his new teammate off the hook temporarily when he converted a rebound of Jason Blake's scoring attempt from the edge of the crease with 2 minutes left in regulation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ellis thwarted Cal Clutterbuck on a breakaway with about 50 seconds left in OT after defenseman Toni Lydman lost the puck to him at the Minnesota blue line. But the Ducks got caught up ice again, and this time Bouchard came through with his seventh goal of the season and second game-winner after getting the puck from Brent Burns.
John Madden also scored for Minnesota and Antti Miettinen had three assists. Anaheim's Bobby Ryan notched his 100th NHL goal and Blake had two assists.
The Ducks, who didn't have to use their penalty-killing unit at all during Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Kings, killed off two short-handed situations during the first 12 minutes. But Madden scored at 15:29 of the first, beating Ellis to the glove side at the end of a 2-on-1 rush with Andrew Brunette against Lydman.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, back in the lineup following the birth of his son on Wednesday, helped engineer the tying goal with a backhanded pass from behind the net. Theodore stopped Blake at the crease before Ryan converted the rebound at 9:02 of the second period for his 29th of the season. It came at the exact moment an interference penalty against Burns had expired.
Neither of the Koivu brothers played. Saku sat out his second straight game with a groin injury. Mikko missed his fourth game because of a broken finger, sustained against the Ducks on Feb. 18., and is expected to be out at least a couple more weeks.
The Koivus have faced each other nine times in the NHL, with Mikko on the winning side four times. The only time they scored in the same game was Oct. 6, 2009, when both connected on power plays in Minnesota's 4-3 overtime win over the Ducks at St. Paul.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Notes: Lydman, signed by Anaheim as a free agent on July 1, began the day tied with Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa for first place on the league's plus-minus list at plus-26. Lydman was a plus-10 last season with Buffalo, equaling his career best. ... Ellis started for only the third time this month. His last three outings with Tampa Bay all went overtime, including two victories. ... Stoner's goal was his second in 48 NHL games. ... Beauchemin's goal was his third this season and first in seven games since rejoining the Ducks in a trade from Toronto on Feb. 9. ... Teemu Selanne's assist on Beauchemin's goal gave him 57 points in 53 games. He is trying to join Gordie Howe and Johnny Bucyk as the only players to finish a season averaging at least a point a game at age 40 or older. ... Anaheim C Todd Marchant's goal drought reached 70 games since his last one on March 17, 2010. He has only two in his last 95 contests. ... The team that scored first in each of the last 13 meetings at Anaheim has come out victorious. Minnesota is 26-2-4 this season when scoring first. ... Anaheim's backup goalie was Ray Emery, whom the Ducks beat in the Stanley Cup finals en route to their five-game triumph over the Ottawa Senators. Emery signed as a free agent on Feb. 2.