Wild Rock Withered Leafs
Posted November 10, 2009 11:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Mikko Koivu scored one goal and assisted on two others during the pivotal second period as the Minnesota Wild ended the Toronto Maple Leafs’ modest two-game win streak with a 5-2 victory Tuesday night.
Marek Zidlicky broke a 1-1 tie at 5:44 of the middle frame and 26 seconds after Koivu beat Jonas Gustavsson at 17:29, Greg Zanon made it a three-goal advantage.
Nicklas Backstrom made that stand up with 37 saves for the Wild (7-10-0), who also got goals from Martin Havlat and Owen Nolan into an empty net to win for the fourth time in five games. Minnesota won in Toronto for the first time (1-4-0) since joining the NHL in 2000-01.
Alexei Ponikarovsky and Phil Kessel replied for the Maple Leafs (3-8-5), who had collected points in seven straight games (3-0-4) until playing a dud before a hushed crowd of 19,063. They looked both sluggish and disinterested at times, a surprise given how well Toronto played in Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Compounding matters, defenceman Mike Komisarek left the game with a lower-body injury after taking just six shifts for 2:47 of ice-time. There was no immediate word on the severity of his injury.
Trying to give his team a spark midway through the second, Leafs head coach Ron Wilson moved Matt Stajan from the fourth line to the first with Kessel and John Mitchell. Kessel ripped a shot off the post on a power play soon after, but that was close as that trio would get.
Stajan was back between Colton Orr and Wayne Primeau to start the third while Jason Blake returned to the top unit, which aside from the odd inspired shift managed little, aside from Kessel’s breakway strike at 18:05.
The Wild took two penalties in quick succession after that, setting up a three-man advantage for the Leafs once they pulled Gustavsson, but Backstrom shut the door until Nolan’s empty-netter with three seconds left iced it.
Minnesota decided it in the second period.
Given a two-man advantage when Ponikarovsky accidentally flipped the puck over the glass for a delay of game call, Zidlicky broke a 1-1 tie when his slapshot from the point snuck between Gustavsson and the post.
They extended that lead to 3-1 at 17:29, taking advantage of an exhausted Leafs unit left on the ice following an icing call. Antti Mitettinen forced a turnover in the corner after the draw and sent a pretty pass in front to Koivu, who tipped it past Gustavsson.
Another 26 seconds after that, Zanon’s point shot hits a couple of Toronto sticks in front to fly past Gustavsson.
Havlat opened the scoring at 17:42 of the first period when he slipped puck into crease on a wraparound and it went in off Gustavsson’s skate.
Minnesota’s lead lasted just 26 seconds, as Ponikarovsky whipped a shot from the side of the net through Backstrom to knot things up 1-1.
Notes: The night began with a poignant Remembrance Day ceremony featuring five Canadian veterans brought to centre ice and Hall of Famer Johnny Bower reading John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields.” … Forwards Jamal Mayers and Jay Rosehill, along with defenceman Garnet Exelby were healthy scratches for the Maple Leafs. … Wild forward Petr Sykora is out indefinitely after suffering a concussion Saturday night versus Dallas. Defenceman John Scott was Minnesota’s other scratch. … Komisarek is in his first season with the Maple Leafs after signing a US$22.5-million, five-year deal.
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
