Final - OT
Eriksson's OT winner lifts Bruins over Wild
Dec 18, 2014 - 5:36 AM St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Loui Eriksson scored the game-winning goal 1:30 into overtime to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.Zdeno Chara flung the puck around the boards off a faceoff win, Carl Soderberg tracked it down and Eriksson deposited Soderberg's cross-crease pass into a wide-open net for the deciding marker.
Soderberg finished with a goal and an assist, Patrice Bergeron also lit the lamp and Niklas Svedberg made 35 saves for the Bruins, who ended a three-game skid.
"It was nice to see our team in overtime there take charge and find a way to win a hockey game with some real good determination," said Bruins head coach Claude Julien.
Bruins forward David Krejci made his return to the lineup after missing 11 straight games and 17 of the last 19 with a groin injury. He registered one shot in 18:22 of ice time.
"Glad I got through. Safely I can say I'll play the next game, so that's the good news, and a good step forward," Krejci said.
Kyle Brodziak and Jason Pominville both supplied offense for the Wild, who have lost consecutive games for the first time in over a month.
Niklas Backstrom stopped 22 pucks in defeat.
Two players playing in their 700th career game combined on the game-tying goal for the Wild. Svedberg fought off Ryan Suter's shot from the left point, but Suter followed the rebound and his shot went off Pominville's skate in front for a 2-2 contest with 8:21 remaining.
"Just have to shake my head again. Their goalie was standing up and had no idea what was going on. Neither really did many of us," said Pominville about yet another of his season-long fluky scores.
The Bruins went on the power play with 2:28 to play after Brett Sutter leveled Craig Cunningham away from the play for an interference minor, but the Wild killed it off and the game went to overtime.
Boston needed just 5:06 to start the scoring as Soderberg's strong effort in front beat Backstrom.
Just 27 seconds later, Brodziak emerged from the left boards, slipped the puck through Gregory Campbell's skates and ripped a wrister over the shoulder of Svedberg from the circle for a tied game.
Bergeron was tightly marked by a defender along the right boards, but released a knuckler that fooled Svedberg for a 2-1 lead with 2:05 remaining in the opening stanza.
In the second, Minnesota embarked on a 5-on-3 power play for over a minute after Kevan Miller tripped Zach Parise 48 seconds after a Bergeron hooking call, but the Bruins defense stood tall as they killed off both infractions to maintain the lead.
Both teams had quality chances in the middle stages of the third.
Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon's blast rang off the crossbar with 11:07 left and the Bruins jammed the puck past Backstrom less than a minute later, but it was ruled no goal because Backstrom had it covered and was pushed over the goal line.
Game Notes
The Bruins won the second game of back-to-back contests for the first time this season. They were 0-5-0 in those instances prior to the win ... It was Boston's third straight game decided beyond regulation ... Wild forward Justin Fontaine recorded a game-high six shots on goal.
- BOSTON: 3
MINNESOTA: 2
Final - OT
Dec 17 10:42 PM - BOSTON: 2
MINNESOTA: 2
End of Regulation
Dec 17 10:36 PM - BOSTON: 2
MINNESOTA: 1
End of 2nd
Dec 17 9:36 PM - BOSTON: 2
MINNESOTA: 1
End of 1st
Dec 17 8:46 PM - BOSTON: 0
MINNESOTA: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Dec 17 8:11 PM
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