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Nummelin's overtime goal caps Wild win

Dec 30, 2007 - 5:26 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Petteri Nummelin's first goal of the season came at the perfect time.

The defenseman scored the game-winning goal in overtime, and set up another tally as the Minnesota Wild erased a three-goal deficit to come away with 5-4 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard had three assists for the Wild, who have won six of their last eight contests.

The Wild controlled much of the play late in the third period and took the momentum into overtime, outshooting the Oilers, 3-0, in the extra session.

"We really battled the last 20 minutes," Nummelin said. "We put the pucks deep and went after them. We got a couple lucky bounces. Sometimes you get those lucky bounces, and if you work hard, you never know what happens."

Nummelin, who was participating in just his third game since November 21, took a feed from Bouchard and blasted a one-timer past Oilers netminder Dwayne Roloson at 1:50 of the overtime.

It's been a long time coming for Nummelin, who had missed 13 straight games with an injury, and had been a healthy scratch two games earlier. His 17:04 of ice time was his most since logging 20:05 on October 30.

"It's only one game, one game doesn't make a season," Nummelin said. "Of course, I am happy to get back into the lineup, get some offense going too."

The Wild started their comeback late in the second period when Pavol Demitra was alone behind the net and found Brian Rolston driving to the net. Rolston converted for his 14th tally of the season at 17:33 to make it 4-2.

Minnesota halved the deficit at 4:44 of the final session as Marian Gaborik stuffed in a loose puck. Mark Parrish had drawn Roloson out to the right side and was off with his shot, but Gaborik was there to tip the puck in to the open net.

Brent Burns tied the game at 4-4 with 5:08 left in regulation. Burns slammed a rebound just inside the far post off Bouchard's shot from the left faceoff circle.

"We knew if we could get that third goal and get to within one, that we would build some momentum and give ourselves an opportunity to maybe get a lucky one or a bounce and tie the game up," Parrish said.

The Oilers used a pair of shorthanded tallies to build their three-goal advantage.

Defenseman Joni Pitkanen starting the scoring when Edmonton was a man down just 83 seconds into the contest and Jarret Stoll also notched a shorthanded goal to give the Oilers a 4-1 edge at 8:35 of the second period.

"We did a lot of good things for a couple periods, had the jump that we expected," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said.

Minnesota seemed to have the jump late with a spirited third-period and overtime.

"We retreated a lot, and they build up a lot of speed," MacTavish said. "When that happens, and the opposition is pressing as much as they are, you are bound to get odd-man advantages. We got a couple and didn't capitalize on those, and it ended up costing us the hockey game."

Edmonton appeared to get a boost from the return of captain Ethan Moreau, who returned to the lineup after missing 113 straight games with two different injuries. He missed the final 75 games of last season after dislocating his right shoulder and then returned in training camp, but suffered a fractured left foot after taking a shot off his skate a preseason game at Calgary on September 22.

Despite the injuries, the 12-year forward was named captain of the Oilers on October 2. He is just the 12th captain in team's storied history and Saturday was his first chance to hit the ice with the "C" on his uniform.

"Yeah, it's not the best way (to come back), but it looked good for a while," Moreau said. "Like I said, we're still trying to figure out what kind of team we are. We haven't quite learned to win those types of games."

Moreau ended the night with one assist. Late in the first period, Moreau took a pass from Fernando Pisani and skated toward the Minnesota net. Fending off Burns, Moreau wrapped a pass around Burns and caught Andrew Cogliano driving to the goal, giving Edmonton a 2-0 lead with 4:15 left.

"Ethan played great," MacTavish said. "He gave us a lot of jump in a lot of areas, took the puck to the net. I thought he played very well for his first game."

Wild netminder Niklas Backstrom made 23 saves, while Roloson stopped 30 of 35 shots.

"When we get down like that, giving up as many goals as we have lately, it's definitely discouraging," Rolston said. "That was a good thing about tonight's win. It took us a while to get going. I don't think we played that bad, even though we were down 4-1.

"Pucks were going in for them. We just started working, and they kind of packed it in a little bit it seemed."