• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Parrish, Bouchard lead Wild to seventh straight home win

Jan 1, 2007 - 3:56 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Mark Parrish's late heroics helped the Minnesota Wild maintain their home-ice dominance.

Parrish snapped a third-period tie and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored twice to lead the Wild to their seventh straight home victory, a 4-3 triumph over the Anaheim Ducks.

After failing to hold a two-goal lead, Minnesota gained a split of the four-game season series against Anaheim and surpassed the Ducks for the league lead in home wins (16).

"I wish I knew what it was we are doing so well at home and not on the road," Parrish said. "I don't know if it is just a confidence thing or what it is. But for some reason, when we come home, there is just a feeling in the room that we are going to do it."

Parrish netted his 11th goal of the season with 4:18 remaining when he flipped a backhander from the left faceoff circle that fluttered by goaltender Michael Wall to break a 3-3 tie.

"I had so many point-blank chances tonight," Parrish said. "And then, for one where I am just kind of throwing it at the net hoping to go in, it is a little ironic, I guess."

"We get a regulation win, against a good hockey team over there," Wild left wing Brian Rolston said. "We played hard and that's important. They tie it up, 3-3, and we still come back and win. That is big. It is big to get that win at the end of the game."

Anaheim rallied from a 3-1 deficit with a second-period power-play goal by defenseman Scott Niedermayer - his seventh tally - and Teemu Selanne's second goal of the game and 23rd of the campaign at 3:26 of the third.

"Now we realize how important the start (of this season) was, because we didn't expect to have that smooth ride all the way," Selanne said. "It is frustrating. You feel you play well enough to win the game and you didn't."

Bouchard and Brian Rolston scored power-play goals in a 32-second span of the second period before Bouchard completed his second multi-goal contest with his eighth tally of the season with 4:51 to go in the session.

All three of Minnesota's second-period goals came on power plays 3:54 apart.

"You have to outwork them in front of the net and get pucks to the front of the net and battle for the rebounds (and) just get ugly goals," Parrish said. "You are not going to get tic-tac-toe, back-door goals on them. You have to focus in and outwork them."

"You have to move with the puck and then pass it on the stick," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "If you are not able to do that, your power play won't work against them because they are quick to react to what you are doing."

Former Hart and Norris Trophy winner Chris Pronger left the game in the first period with a broken left foot and could miss several games for Anaheim. He has seven goals and 33 assists this season.

"He plays so many minutes and he is good defensively, good offensively," Lemaire said. "So if he isn't there, somebody else will get his minutes and they are not as effective as Pronger is."

Parrish and Rolston added assists and netminder Manny Fernandez made 27 saves to raise his record to 16-13-0 for Minnesota.

Making his second straight start for Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who is sidelined with a groin injury, Wall stopped 25 shots for the Ducks, who have dropped three of four.

"If you were here viewing the game, it was a competitive hockey game," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We have a lot of things we can work on, like every other team. But we were still in the hockey game."