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Wild erupt, double up Coyotes

Jan 14, 2009 - 4:43 AM By Brian Hall PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Minnesota's struggling offense got a boost from a pair of fast goals as the Wild continued their dominance of the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday.

Owen Nolan, Andrew Brunette, Mikko Koivu and rookie Cal Clutterbuck each had a goal and an assist and Niklas Backstrom made 21 saves as the Wild returned home with a 6-3 victory against Phoenix.

Marc-Andre Bergeron scored in his return to the lineup and James Sheppard added another goal as Minnesota won for the 12th time in the past 14 contests between the clubs.

"Yeah, six goals, we don't get that too often," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "It's nice. And you know what? We needed them. It's a good win. We still have a lot of work to do before the break. We'll try to stay focused and play the best we can."

The Wild scored 46 seconds into the first period and 34 seconds into the third in beating the Coyotes for the seventh straight time in Minnesota.

Joakim Lindstrom, Olli Jokinen and Steven Reinprecht scored and Ilya Bryzgalov turned aside 28 saves for the Coyotes.

"I've said this before, if you're not willing to pay the price, you're not going to be successful at this level," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "We had too many guys that tried to play outside. They played hard and they played harder than we did. And you're just not going to be successful that way at this level by cutting corners.

"Winning's hard. It's not easy to win. That's why only 22 guys every year get their name on the Stanley Cup. It's hard to win. When we play well, we play the right way. When we lose, we try to cheat the game. You can't cheat the game."

After missing 10 games with a lower-body injury, Bergeron quickly made his presence felt by driving a slap shot past Bryzgalov in the first minute of the game. The goal was the boost the offensively challenged Wild needed. They entered the game with 100 goals scored, the second-lowest total in the league.

Just as significant is all six goals came at even-strength. The Wild, who were 0-for-4 on the power-play, entered the game tied for seventh in the league with the man advantage, but had struggled to score in 5-on-5 situations.

"We've been struggling, obviously," Brunette said. "At times, I think the way we play within the team structure, we get a little passive. If you look at the games we've played well, San Jose and some of those other games, our first guy on the puck was aggressive and we were able to move up ice a little bit more and sustain a little more pressure. I think when we're at our best, our first guy on the puck is real important."

With Minnesota leading, 3-1, to start the third, Koivu quickly made it a three-goal cushion with his team-leading 12th goal, but only second in 17 games.

"It brings the confidence always, and I think it gets a little easier to make the plays as well when we get rewarded every once in a while," Koivu said. "So, it's good for us and it's good that different guys got goals tonight."

However, Phoenix had a quick answer as Jokinen poked a rebound past Backstrom for his 15th of the season, making it a 4-2 game just 22 seconds after Koivu's tally.

Each of the quick starts for the Wild would lead to more.

Nolan's 10th of the season came 5:08 into the first and Brunette added his 11th at 5:44 of the second as Minnesota led 3-0.

Lindstrom's fifth of the season stopped Minnesota's run, but Koivu got things going again in the third.

"We got it close, and I thought we had the momentum at the time," Lindstrom said. "We made some mistakes and that's the hockey game right there. We can't really make mistakes."

After Jokinen scored, Reinprecht came off the bench to blast a slap shot past Backstrom and make it a 4-3 game.

"I didn't think we panicked at all," Koivu said. "Obviously, that's a good sign. Overall, it was a good game for us and we need to keep doing that, especially at home."

The surprising Wild offense then put the game away.

Clutterbuck broke in and sent the puck high past Bryzgalov for his fifth of the season, and Sheppard converted a rebound chance for his third of the campaign.

"We made too many mistakes," Phoenix All-Star Shane Doan said. "You know what type of game they are going to play. They are going to play a very patient game. We make too many mistakes, and they are going to capitalize."