Wild 1 - 2 Ducks
Final
  for this game

Ducks welcome Wild in home opener

Oct 17, 2014 - 3:11 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Following a successful road trip to begin the schedule, the Anaheim Ducks will play at the Honda Center for the first time this season on Friday night as they host the Minnesota Wild.

The Ducks lost their first game of the campaign to Pittsburgh, but rebounded to best Detroit, Buffalo and Philadelphia to finish off the trek. They capped things with Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over the Flyers.

William Karlsson, who recorded two goals in a victory over the Sabres the previous night, had the winner in the fourth round of the tiebreaker. Tim Jackman, Devante Smith-Pelly and Matt Beleskey lit the lamp in regulation. Beleskey has scored in three straight games.

"Yeah, it feels good. I think (Monday), the game was way more complete than today's game, but I mean sometimes it's a good lesson when you scramble to hold the lead and play on your heels," said Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau. "You learn from it and the next game you are better at it, and we came away successful so it made it better."

Frederik Andersen stopped a season-high 39 shots for his third win in three starts. He has never faced the Wild.

Anaheim will play its next five games at home, but will do so without forward Patrick Maroon. He is expected to miss the next four weeks due to an MCL sprain after notching three assists in three games while playing on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

The Wild have been out of action since opening the season with two shutout victories over the Colorado Avalanche. Minnesota won the home portion of the set 5-0 on Oct. 9 and then recorded a 3-0 win in Denver on Saturday.

Darcy Kuemper was in net for both games, making 16 saves in the first game and another 30 in the recent victory. He now has four shutouts in his career.

"We knew (the Avs) would come out with a better effort tonight," said Kuemper, who has split two previous starts against the Ducks with a 2.54 goals against average and .919 save percentage.

Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker and Zach Parise (empty net) had the goals and will try to help Minnesota open a season 3-0 for the first time since it won the first four contests of the 2008-09 campaign.

Defenseman Jonas Brodin will play for the first time since signing a six-year contract extension with the Wild on Sunday. He had 19 points in 79 games last season, his second in the NHL.

Forward Justin Fontaine is slated to make his season debut for the Wild tonight after missing the first two games with a leg injury. He notched 13 goals and 21 points in 66 games as a rookie last season.

The Ducks have won six of seven and eight of the last 13 meetings.






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