Eriksson Ek’s late goal puts Wild in playoffs

Because the Wild play in Minnesota, and there is apparently a clause in the state constitution that says local sports teams aren’t ever allowed to do things the easy way, the local hockey club chose drama instead. Needing just one standings point to make the playoffs for the first time under head coach John Hynes, the Wild got the job done in the most nail-biting, teeth-clenching way possible on Tuesday in their regular season finale. ADVERTISEMENT Joel Eriksson Ek scored an extra attacker goal with 20.

9 seconds left in regulation to give Minnesota the one standings point needed. Matt Boldy scored in overtime for a 3-2 Wild win. “It took some competitive stamina for us to be able to get it, obviously with the 82nd game and 20 seconds left in the game, but I think it was good.



I’m really happy for the guys,” Hynes said. “We battled hard throughout the year. Another hard-fought game tonight and found a way to win it, and now we’ve got a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup.

” Filip Gustavsson had 22 saves for Minnesota, which pressured the Anaheim net all night but could only get two of their 37 shots in regulation past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal. After starting the season red-hot, the Wild saw their once-secure playoff chances get more and more unstable over the course of the past month, as the impact of a season-long rash of injuries took its toll. But with their postseason berth secured, Gustavsson offered to give up the net.

Hynes put Marc-Andre Fleury in goal for the overtime, to thunderous applause from the fans. The future Hall of Famer is retiring at season’s end. “Very surprised.

I’d been sitting there for a few hours but it was good from Gus and Hynesy to let me go in,” said Fleury, who had his family and a childhood friend in attendance. “I’m happy I got to play just a little bit more at home.” Fleury had five saves in the extra session, which included killing a penalty.

The end result was his NHL record 71st overtime win, which led to a thunderous standing ovation and chants of his name from the fans as Fleury left the ice. The Wild will open the playoffs on the road, likely Sunday, at Vegas. ADVERTISEMENT Unlike recent games where they have started slow and played from behind, the Wild were the aggressors right from the start, with the large crowd gasping when Boldy – redirecting a Kirill Kaprizov shot – and then Marcus Foligno put pucks off the goalpost on consecutive shifts.

Minnesota broke through before the opening period was half over, when a Mats Zuccarello pass found Johansson behind the Anaheim defense, and his flip shot beat the goalie low on the stick side. But Anaheim would pull even before the period was over, as a bouncing puck headed for the crease eluded defenseman Jake Middleton’s attempts to corral it, then slid beneath Gustavsson’s right leg pad. Back-to-back penalties on the Ducks late in the first and early in the second gave Minnesota four minutes of man advantage where they threatened and tested Dostal’s glove, but did not score.

Minnesota out-shot Anaheim 11-3 in the period with nothing to show for all of the effort. Things got more complicated for the Wild near the midway point of the third when the Ducks got a 2-on-1 rush to the net and took their first lead when Colangelo tucked a shot between Gustavsson’s knees. Hynes called a timeout late and had Gustavsson on the bench when Eriksson Ek popped in a rebound, putting the crowd into delirium and the Wild back in the playoffs.

“We played well. That wasn’t our fate, I don’t think. I think our fate was winning the game like we did,” Middleton said.

“Maybe it was fate to go to overtime and get Flower in the way we did too. What an all-class move by Gus there.” ADVERTISEMENT While the Wild elected to delay newly-signed defenseman Zeev Buium’s NHL debut, Anaheim signed Western Michigan captain Tim Wasche after he helped the Broncos win their first NCAA title last Saturday.

Wasche made his NHL debut on Tuesday, centering the Ducks’ fourth line. ______________________________________________________ This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers.

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