Minnesota 3, Carolina 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, March 6, 2015
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Referees:
Brad Meier, Ian Walsh
Linesmen:
Brad Kovachik, Michel Cormier
Attendance:
10857
By SportsDirect Inc.
Wild 3, Hurricanes 1: Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist as visiting Minnesota remained red-hot with a win over Carolina.
Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise also tallied for the Wild, who have won 18 of their last 23 games and moved three points clear of idle Winnipeg for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Jason Pominville added a pair of assists while Devan Dubnyk continued his unbelievable run with a 37-save performance.
Riley Nash had the lone goal for the Hurricanes, who have dropped two straight following a three-game winning streak. Anton Khudobin stopped 16 shots in defeat.
Coyle put the Wild ahead 11 minutes into the game, gathering a cross-ice pass from Nino Niederreiter and snapping a high shot past Khudobin's glove for his first goal since Feb. 7. The Hurricanes responded with a strong second - outshooting Minnesota 16-4 - and were rewarded with 4:42 remaining in the period as Nash ended a 17-game goalless drought with a conversion of Jeff Skinner's feed to finish off a 2-on-1 break.
Granlund vaulted Minnesota in front for good 4:22 into the third, as his pass intended for Pominville redirected off the skate of Carolina blue-liner John-Michael Liles and in. Parise added some insurance just under two minutes later by converting a rebound of Pominville's shot for his team-high 26th goal.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pominville has back-to-back multi-point games after recording just one point in his previous nine contests. ... Dubnyk is 18-3-1 in 23 games since coming over in a trade with Arizona - and has made every start since the deal. ... . Hurricanes D Rasmus Rissanen made his NHL debut, finishing with one shot and a minus-2 rating in 16:01 of ice time.
Top Game Performances
Minnesota |
|
Carolina |
Mikael Granlund 2 |
Points |
Riley Nash 1 |
Mikael Granlund 1 |
Goals |
Riley Nash 1 |
Jason Pominville 2 |
Assists |
Jeff Skinner 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Devan Dubnyk .974 |
Save Percentage |
Anton Khudobin .842 |
Devan Dubnyk 37 |
Saves |
Anton Khudobin 16 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Minnesota
|
19 |
3 |
0-2 |
2-2 |
4 |
25 |
Carolina
|
38 |
1 |
0-2 |
2-2 |
4 |
33 |
Upcoming Games
-
Carolina will play their next game at home against Edmonton. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .375 after a win and .385 after a loss.
-
Minnesota will play their next game at home against Colorado. The Wild have a W/L % of .583 after a win and .517 after a loss.