Stars Lose In Minnesota
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SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Defenseman Nate Prosser scored in overtime as the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Saturday night.
Prosser delivered just his second goal of the season and his second in as many games when he snapped the rebound of a Nino Niederreiter shot past Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen from close range.
Defenseman Ryan Suter, who did not have a goal as of Dec. 29, now has six goals in the last 11 games after he scored in the second period as Minnesota (27-19-5) won for the seventh time in the past nine games. Rookie left winger Erik Haula also got his first career goal for the Wild.
Center Ryan Garbutt and right winger Alex Chiasson scored for Dallas (21-19-8), which had a decided offensive advantage in all three periods, but has won just one of its past nine games.
Lehtonen had 16 saves for Dallas.
Darcy Kuemper, making his fourth consecutive start in goal for the Wild, finished with 33 saves.
Dallas had six conesecutive shots on goal to start the game and had a
decided offensive advantage throughout the first period but found itself trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Haula, a rookie who was a star on the other side of the Mississippi River at the University of Minnesota last season, made a highlight reel play for his first NHL goal.
At the far blue line, Haula shipped the puck off the boards and around Stars left winger Erik Cole, springing himself on a breakaway. Haula’s wrist shot from the left circle eluded Lehtonen to give the Wild an early lead.
Later in the first period, Stars center Shawn Horcoff was assessed a double minor for high sticking, but Dallas held the Wild without a shot on goal during the four-minute span.
The Stars peppered Kuemper for much of the second period and broke through near the midway point of the game when Garbutt deposited the rebound of a long-range shot by center Vernon Fiddler that Kuemper had stopped.
The 1-1 tie didn’t last long. Suter’s wrist shot from the blue line made its way through a forest of sticks, skates and bodies in front of the Dallas net and ended up over the goal line.
The Wild, already playing without captain Mikko Koivu and alternate captain Zach Parise, lost another key player for a time early in the third period.
Dallas left winger Andre Roussel, attempting to clear the puck near the Stars net, hit Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin in the face with his stick on the follow-through. Bleeding profusely, Brodin left the game. Roussel was not penalized on the play.
Brodin returned later in the third period and finished the game.
Dallas forged a 2-2 tie midway through the third period on a power play when Chiasson poked the puck over the goal line during a scramble in front of the Minnesota net. It was Chiasson’s ninth goal of the season but his first since Dec. 3.
