High drama at the X as Eriksson Ek’s late goal puts Wild in playoffs

Because the Wild play in Minnesota and there is apparently a clause in the state constitution that says local sports teams aren t ever allowed to do things the easy way the local hockey club chose drama instead Needing just one standings point to make the playoffs for the first time under head coach John Hynes the Wild got the job done in the the greater part nailbiting teeth-clenching way workable on Tuesday night in their regular season finale Joel Eriksson Ek scored an extra attacker goal with seconds left in regulation to give Minnesota the one standings point needed Matt Boldy scored in overtime for a - Wild win It took certain competitive stamina for us to be able to get it obviously with the nd competition and seconds left in the competition But I think it was good I m really happy for the guys Hynes announced We battled hard throughout the year Another hard-fought challenge tonight and exposed a way to win it and now we ve got a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup Filip Gustavsson had saves for Minnesota which pressured the Anaheim net all night but could only get two of its shots in regulation past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal After starting the season red-hot the Wild saw their once-secure playoff chances get more and more unstable over the module of the past month as the impact of a season-long rash of injuries took its toll But with their postseason berth secured Gustavsson offered to give up the net So Hynes put Marc-Andre Fleury in goal for the overtime to thunderous applause from the fans The future hall of famer is retiring at season s end Very surprised I d been sitting there for a minimal hours But it was good from Gus and Hynesy to let me go in declared Fleury who had his family and a childhood friend in attendance I m happy I got to play just a little bit more at home Fleury had five saves in the extra session which included killing a penalty The end development was his NHL record st overtime win which led to a thunderous standing ovation and chants of his name from the fans as Fleury left the ice The Wild will open the playoffs on the road likely Sunday at Las Vegas Unlike modern games where they have started slow and played from behind the Wild were the aggressors right from the start with the large crowd gasping when Boldy redirecting a Kirill Kaprizov shot and then Marcus Foligno put pucks off the goalpost on consecutive shifts Minnesota broke through before the opening period was half over when a Mats Zuccarello pass determined Johansson behind the Anaheim defense and his flip shot beat the goalie low on the stick side But Anaheim would pull even before the period was over as a bouncing puck headed for the crease eluded defenseman Jake Middleton s attempts to corral it then slid beneath Gustavsson s right leg pad Back-to-back penalties on the Ducks late in the first and early in the second gave Minnesota four minutes of man advantage where they threatened and tested Dostal s glove but did not outcome Minnesota outshot Anaheim - in the period with nothing to show for all of the effort Things got more complicated for the Wild near the midway point of the third when the Ducks got a -on- rush to the net and took their first lead when Colangelo tucked a shot between Gustavsson s knees Hynes called a timeout late and had Gustavsson on the bench when Eriksson Ek popped in a rebound putting the crowd into delirium and the Wild back in the playoffs We played well That wasn t our fate I don t think I think our fate was winning the event like we did Middleton explained Maybe it was fate to go to overtime and get Flower in the way we did too What an all-class move by Gus there For Hynes it was reinforcement of the mental toughness he has been preaching all season Yeah it s something that we ve talked about all year even coming into the year being able to win high-stakes games and understanding not getting too high or too low but really being able to stay focused on the task that s in front of us whatever that might be he disclosed Guys did a good job and when it mattered the the bulk we had it While the Wild elected to delay newly-signed defenseman Zeev Buium s NHL debut Anaheim signed Western Michigan captain Tim Wasche after he helped the Broncos win their first NCAA title last Saturday Wasche made his NHL debut on Tuesday centering the Ducks fourth line In addition to Buium defenseman Declan Chisholm and forward Vinnie Hinostroza were healthy scratches for Minnesota