Wild 3 - 2 Coyotes
Final - 2OT
  for this game

Wild edge Coyotes in shootout

Mar 9, 2012 - 5:48 AM Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - Dany Heatley scored the game-winner in the fifth round of the shootout, lifting the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday.

After Wild netminder Matt Hackett stoned Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the top half of the fifth round, Heatley had a chance to win it.

The former 50-goal scorer went in on goal with speed, shifted to his backhand in close and slid the puck through the legs of Jason LaBarbera for the winner.

Kyle Brodziak and Steven Kampfer scored in regulation and Josh Harding stopped all 24 shots he saw before leaving in the second period with an injury. Hackett gave up two goals on 17 shots, but came up huge for his team in the shootout to snap a five-game skid.

"It was an unbelievable character win," Wild head coach Mike Yeo said. "I'm really proud of the effort the guys put in."

Raffi Torres and Lauri Korpikoski lit the lamp for the Coyotes, who have lost five straight. LaBarbera gave up a pair of goals on 24 shots.

The Wild opened the scoring 4:06 into the first period as a result of a poor clearing attempt by the Coyotes.

After collecting a loose puck behind his own net, Ekman-Larsson sent it up the middle of the zone and it was picked clean by Brodziak, who ripped it past LaBarbera from the slot for the 1-0 lead.

Minnesota's second goal came just 58 seconds later after Matt Cullen brought the puck across the blue line on the right wing. He wiped out trying to stop, but got up and quickly sent it to Kampfer, who was trailing the play. Kampfer took a look up and wired a slap shot home from the right circle.

After a scoreless second period, Phoenix finally got on the board 1:40 into the third.

Michael Stone pinched in from his right point position to keep the puck in and sent a centering pass to Torres, who one-timed it home from the slot to make it 2-1.

Just 1:05 later, the Coyotes tied it when Adrian Aucoin sent a pass from the right point to the left circle for Antoine Vermette. Vermette patiently waited for a pass to open up and he fed to Korpikoski, who banged it home from in close.

"You can't chase games like that all the time," Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett said. "We were lucky to get a point. I thought we played well enough to get two points. It's frustrating."

Game Notes

The Coyotes fell to 3-5-3 while wearing their third (black) jersey this season...The Coyotes failed to score with four power-play opportunities, while the Wild went 0-for-1 with the man advantage...Minnesota will host the Calgary Flames on Sunday, while the Coyotes will host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.






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