NHL: EDMONTON at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">----------------------------------------- EDMONTON 0 2 0 --2 MINNESOTA 3 2 0 --5 ----------------------------------------- FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Minnesota, Mark Parrish 5 (power play) (Petteri Nummelin, Mikko Koivu), 4:55. 2, Minnesota, Pierre-Marc Bouchard 4 (power play) (Mikko Koivu, Eric Belanger), 18:57. 3, Minnesota, Kurtis Foster 1 (power play) (Pierre-Marc Bouchard, James Sheppard), 19:08. Penalties: R Nilsson, Edm (hooking), 4:13; K Johnsson, Min (interference), 5:43; J Stoll, Edm (interference), 6:30; S Staios, Edm (delay of game), 8:16; E Belanger, Min (holding), 12:55; D Grebeshkov, Edm (hooking), 17:19; D Tarnstrom, Edm (hooking), 18:57. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Minnesota, Mark Parrish 6 (power play) (Kurtis Foster, Petteri Nummelin), 3:21. 5, Edmonton, Dustin Penner 3 (power play) (Ales Hemsky, Jarret Stoll), 5:18. 6, Minnesota, Stephane Veilleux 2 (Mikko Koivu, Kim Johnsson), 14:59. 7, Edmonton, Shawn Horcoff 5 (Robert Nilsson, Dustin Penner), 15:24. Penalties: Z Stortini, Edm (interference), 2:16; K Carney, Min (hooking), 4:41; A Hemsky, Edm (high sticking), 6:57; A Cogliano, Edm (hooking), 10:23. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: S Veilleux, Min (hooking), 0:24; K Carney, Min (hooking), 3:30; J Stoll, Edm (hooking), 7:42; D Grebeshkov, Edm (hooking), 14:27; B Rolston, Min (holding), 15:22. Shots on goal: ---------------------------------------- EDMONTON 5 10 9 --24 MINNESOTA 8 12 6 --26 ---------------------------------------- Power-play Conversions: EDM - 1 of 6, MIN - 4 of 10. Goalies : Edmonton, Dwayne Roloson (8 shots, 5 saves; record: 3-8-0), Mathieu Garon (start of 2nd period, 18, 16). Minnesota, Niklas Backstrom (24 shots, 22 saves; record: 7-1-1). A: 18,568. Referees: Kevin Pollock, Steve Kozari. Linesmen: Jonny Murray, Ryan Galloway. INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS EDMONTON MINNESOTA G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots S Horcoff 1 0 +1 1 B Rolston 0 0 -1 2 R Nilsson 0 1 +1 2 S Veilleux 1 0 +1 1 A Cogliano 0 0 even 2 M Parrish 2 0 even 6 R Torres 0 0 even 4 D Boogaard 0 0 even 0 J Stoll 0 1 -1 1 E Belanger 0 1 -1 1 M Reasoner 0 0 -1 2 K Foster 1 1 even 4 D Tarnstrom 0 0 even 0 K Carney 0 0 even 0 S Staios 0 0 -1 0 P Nummelin 0 2 even 2 D Penner 1 1 +1 3 M Skoula 0 0 even 1 D Grebeshkov 0 0 +1 1 K Johnsson 0 1 even 2 B Young 0 0 even 0 N Schultz 0 0 even 1 Z Stortini 0 0 even 0 J Sheppard 0 1 even 0 K Brodziak 0 0 even 1 B Pouliot 0 0 even 0 L Smid 0 0 -1 1 B Burns 0 0 even 0 T Gilbert 0 0 +1 2 M Foy 0 0 even 2 G Sanderson 0 0 even 1 M Koivu 0 3 +1 1 A Hemsky 0 1 -1 2 B Radivojevic 0 0 +1 2 S Gagner 0 0 even 1 P Bouchard 1 1 -1 1 M Roy SHOULDER P Demitra GROIN J Pitkanen KNEE INJURY M Gaborik GROIN M Greene ANKLE INJURY W Walz PERSONAL REASONS</div>
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Wild enteredMonday's contest against the Edmonton Oilers with the sixthworst power-play unit in the league and without arguably theirtwo best forwards. That didn't matter. Mark Parrish scored two power-play goals and the Wild convertedon 4-of-10 opportunities with an extra skater - including threein the first period - to top the Oilers, 5-2, for their secondstraight victory. With Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra nursing groin injuries,Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Kurtis Foster picked up the slack witha goal and an assist apiece for Minnesota and goaltender NiklasBackstrom made 22 saves to improve to 6-0-0 in his careeragainst Edmonton. "When you are missing guys like that, its not that one or twoguys have to step up - everybody has to step up," Parrish said."We have to play as strong a game as we possibly can. I thinktop to bottom from Backstrom making big saves when we neededthem to timely scoring on the power play and some pretty bigkills, we really hauled off everything we needed to do tonight." The Wild took the lead for good early in this one, with Parrishputting home the first of the three first period power-playgoals at 4:55 on a laser cross-ice pass from Petteri Nummelinwith Mikko Koivu also registering an assist. Nummelin, adefenseman, was playing forward to help fill in the holes leftby Gaborik and Demitra with assists on both of Parrish's goals. Nummelin said he didn't really know where to go several times onthe ice, but made a perfect pass to get the scoring going. "Everybody in the building knew where the puck was going but ouroffside defenseman," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. Bouchard scored his goal at 18:57 and Foster put home aone-timer 11 seconds later to make the score 3-0 and tie afranchise record with three power-play tallies in a period. Itwas enough to convince MacTavish to lift former Wild goaltenderDwayne Roloson from net to start the second frame. But Minnesota treated Mathieu Garon just as rudely, with Parrishscoring the Wild's fourth power-play goal at 3:21 of the secondperiod. "You can commend the effort and the intensity, but you've got toplay this game with your head or you'll get picked apart,"MacTavish said. "We're running around the ice like a bunch ofchickens with our heads off trying to extract a pound ofvengeance. We're out of position and they picked us apart." Backstrom had his bid for a fourth career shutout againstEdmonton spoiled at 5:18 of the second, when Dustin Pennerscored on assists from Ales Hemsky and Jarret Stoll. Backstromentered with a 0.40 goals-against average and .982 savepercentage against the Oilers. The teams then traded even-strength goals, with StephaneVeilleux giving Minnesota a 5-1 lead at 14:59 and Shawn Horcoffcutting the deficit back to three 25 seconds later. The Wild fell one power-play goal short of tying its single-gamefranchise record, but did improve its power play percentagefrom 14 to 19 percent. Edmonton, which entered the game deadlast with a 5.6 percent power play conversion rate, went 1-for-6with an extra skater. "We moved the puck really well," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemairesaid. "(Nummelin) started the whole thing with that passacross, that nice goal. A lot of times I talk about confidencewhen you're doing certain things, it seemed like we had thatconfidence. We were moving the puck quick. They tried topressure the puck carrier as much as they could and the puck wasgone quick - passes on the stick - that's why we did well." The Oilers gave the Wild plenty of opportunities, tying a seasonhigh with 10 penalties. It also didn't help that Edmonton waswithout three veteran defensemen - Matt Greene, Joni Pitkanenand Mathieu Roy - because of injuries, forcing MacTavish to getcreative with his penalty kill unit. "We take pride on our penalty kill, so that hurts," defensemanSteve Staios said. "That stings. We don't like to see that. Wegot ourselves behind early and we were just reeling. It wasone (penalty) after another. We couldn't regroup." The Oilers lost for the fourth straight time at Xcel EnergyCenter and fell to 1-6 against Northwest Division opponents thisseason. Edmonton has lost seven of its last eight gamesagainst the Wild, but did break a three-game scoreless droughtin St. Paul. The Oilers had scored just three goals in theirprevious five games in Minnesota. Koivu notched three assists for the Wild to give him ateam-leading 10 this season.
NHL: EDMONTON at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">------------------------------------ Edmonton 0 2 0 --2 Minnesota 3 2 0 --5 ------------------------------------ FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Minnesota, Mark Parrish 5 (power play) (Petteri Nummelin, Mikko Koivu), 4:55. 2, Minnesota, Pierre-Marc Bouchard 4 (power play) (Mikko Koivu, Eric Belanger), 18:57. 3, Minnesota, Kurtis Foster 1 (power play) (Pierre-Marc Bouchard, James Sheppard), 19:08. Penalties: R Nilsson, Edm (hooking), 4:13; K Johnsson, Min (interference), 5:43; J Stoll, Edm (interference), 6:30; S Staios, Edm (delay of game), 8:16; E Belanger, Min (holding), 12:55; D Grebeshkov, Edm (hooking), 17:19; D Tarnstrom, Edm (hooking), 18:57. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Minnesota, Mark Parrish 6 (power play) (Kurtis Foster, Petteri Nummelin), 3:21. 5, Edmonton, Dustin Penner 3 (power play) (Ales Hemsky, Jarret Stoll), 5:18. 6, Minnesota, Stephane Veilleux 2 (Mikko Koivu, Kim Johnsson), 14:59. 7, Edmonton, Shawn Horcoff 5 (Robert Nilsson, Dustin Penner), 15:24. Penalties: Z Stortini, Edm (interference), 2:16; K Carney, Min (hooking), 4:41; A Hemsky, Edm (high sticking), 6:57; A Cogliano, Edm (hooking), 10:23. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: S Veilleux, Min (hooking), 0:24; K Carney, Min (hooking), 3:30; J Stoll, Edm (hooking), 7:42; D Grebeshkov, Edm (hooking), 14:27; B Rolston, Min (holding), 15:22. Shots on goal: --------------------------------------- Edmonton 5 10 9 --24 Minnesota 8 12 6 --26 --------------------------------------- Power-play Conversions: Edmonton - 1 of 6, Minnesota - 4 of 10. Goalies : Edmonton, Dwayne Roloson (8 shots, 5 saves; record: 3-8-0), Mathieu Garon (start of 2nd period, 18, 16). Minnesota, Niklas Backstrom (24 shots, 22 saves; record: 7-1-1). A: 18,568. Referees: Kevin Pollock, Steve Kozari. Linesmen: Jonny Murray, Ryan Galloway.</div>
NHL: EDMONTON at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">----------------------------------------- EDMONTON 0 2 0 --2 MINNESOTA 3 2 0 --5 ----------------------------------------- FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Minnesota, Mark Parrish 5 (power play) (Petteri Nummelin, Mikko Koivu), 4:55. 2, Minnesota, Pierre-Marc Bouchard 4 (power play) (Mikko Koivu, Eric Belanger), 18:57. 3, Minnesota, Kurtis Foster 1 (power play) (Pierre-Marc Bouchard, James Sheppard), 19:08. Penalties: R Nilsson, Edm (hooking), 4:13; K Johnsson, Min (interference), 5:43; J Stoll, Edm (interference), 6:30; S Staios, Edm (delay of game), 8:16; E Belanger, Min (holding), 12:55; D Grebeshkov, Edm (hooking), 17:19; D Tarnstrom, Edm (hooking), 18:57. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Minnesota, Mark Parrish 6 (power play) (Kurtis Foster, Petteri Nummelin), 3:21. 5, Edmonton, Dustin Penner 3 (power play) (Ales Hemsky, Jarret Stoll), 5:18. 6, Minnesota, Stephane Veilleux 2 (Mikko Koivu, Kim Johnsson), 14:59. 7, Edmonton, Shawn Horcoff 5 (Robert Nilsson, Dustin Penner), 15:24. Penalties: Z Stortini, Edm (interference), 2:16; K Carney, Min (hooking), 4:41; A Hemsky, Edm (high sticking), 6:57; A Cogliano, Edm (hooking), 10:23. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: S Veilleux, Min (hooking), 0:24; K Carney, Min (hooking), 3:30; J Stoll, Edm (hooking), 7:42; D Grebeshkov, Edm (hooking), 14:27; B Rolston, Min (holding), 15:22. Shots on goal: ---------------------------------------- EDMONTON 5 10 9 --24 MINNESOTA 8 12 6 --26 ---------------------------------------- Power-play Conversions: EDM - 1 of 6, MIN - 4 of 10. Goalies : Edmonton, Dwayne Roloson (8 shots, 5 saves; record: 3-8-0), Mathieu Garon (start of 2nd period, 18, 16). Minnesota, Niklas Backstrom (24 shots, 22 saves; record: 7-1-1). A: 18,568. Referees: Kevin Pollock, Steve Kozari. Linesmen: Jonny Murray, Ryan Galloway. INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS EDMONTON MINNESOTA G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots S Horcoff 1 0 +1 1 B Rolston 0 0 -1 2 R Nilsson 0 1 +1 2 S Veilleux 1 0 +1 1 A Cogliano 0 0 even 2 M Parrish 2 0 even 6 R Torres 0 0 -1 4 D Boogaard 0 0 even 0 J Stoll 0 1 -1 1 E Belanger 0 1 -1 1 M Reasoner 0 0 even 2 K Foster 1 1 even 4 D Tarnstrom 0 0 even 0 K Carney 0 0 even 0 S Staios 0 0 -1 0 P Nummelin 0 2 even 2 D Penner 1 1 +1 3 M Skoula 0 0 even 1 D Grebeshkov 0 0 +1 1 K Johnsson 0 1 even 2 B Young 0 0 even 0 N Schultz 0 0 even 1 Z Stortini 0 0 even 0 J Sheppard 0 1 even 0 K Brodziak 0 0 even 1 B Pouliot 0 0 even 0 L Smid 0 0 -1 1 B Burns 0 0 even 0 T Gilbert 0 0 +1 2 M Foy 0 0 even 2 G Sanderson 0 0 even 1 M Koivu 0 3 +1 1 A Hemsky 0 1 -1 2 B Radivojevic 0 0 +1 2 S Gagner 0 0 even 1 P Bouchard 1 1 -1 1 M Roy SHOULDER P Demitra GROIN J Pitkanen KNEE INJURY M Gaborik GROIN M Greene ANKLE INJURY W Walz PERSONAL REASONS</div>
NHL: EDMONTON at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NHL EDMONTON AT MINNESOTA NOTE: RESENDING BOX TO CORRECT +/- FOR EDMONTON'S RAFFIT TORRES AND MARTY REASONER.</div>
