Dallas, TX – Kyle Brodziak's shorthanded goal in the third period proved to be the winner as the Minnesota Wild took a 7-4 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday.
Zach Parise scored twice and added an assist while Matt Cullen, Mikko Koivu, Brodziak and Pierre-Marc Bouchard each posted a goal and an assist for the Wild, who have won six straight. Niklas Backstrom stopped 22 shots in the win.
"We've been playing some good hockey," Backstrom said of the streak. "It's a lot of hard work."
Alex Goligoski had a goal and an assist while Trevor Daley, Philip Larsen and Jaromir Jagr all scored for the Stars, who had a two-game winning streak stopped. Kari Lehtonen gave up six goals on 41 shots in the loss.
"Obviously not the result we wanted. We keep getting the lead and giving it away," Dallas center Jamie Benn said.
Dallas was playing its first game since trading former captain Brenden Morrow to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
Minnesota was skating shorthanded after Mike Rupp was given a double-minor and game misconduct for high sticking, but the team scored off a Dallas neutral zone turnover that saw Cal Clutterbuck's left wing shot drop in front of Lehtonen and Brodziak jam it home with 7:22 to play in the third.
After killing the penalty, the Wild gave themselves some breathing room as another Dallas turnover near the top of the zone resulted in Dany Heatley jamming the puck in down low with 1:28 to play.
Bouchard scored on the net empty in the final seconds.
Goligoski got the scoring started just 5:31 in on a one-timer from the slot off a Derek Roy feed, but the Wild answered two minutes later as a pile in front saw Parise eventually get it in.
Jagr scored his 14th goal of the season on the power play with 2:13 to play in the first off a rebound to give the Stars a 2-1 lead going into the second period.
Koivu scored his goal 3:42 into the second period on a snap shot from the slot, but Daley answered just 1:28 later to give the Stars the lead back.
Goals from Parise at 9:33 and Cullen five minutes later allowed the Wild to take a 4-3 lead into the final period.
Dallas made it a 4-4 game 7:02 into the third period after a Minnesota turnover in the neutral zone saw a centering pass missed by the shooter, but it slid over where Larsen one-timed it home.
Game Notes
Dallas hosts Minnesota again on Friday ... Minnesota hosts Phoenix on Wednesday ... The Wild took a 1-0 win over Dallas at home on Jan. 20 ... Minnesota went 0-for-2 on the power play while Dallas was 1-for-3.
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