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The Minnesota Wild built a two-goal lead before falling 5-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center.
Kyle Brodziak did everything he could with a goal and two assists.
He got the Wild on the board with a backhand toss just inside the far post from just inside the bottom of the faceoff circle.
His first assist came by throwing the puck to the front of the net on a bad angle shot. Nick Johnson picked up the rebound and scored on his second crack at it.
He also assisted the goal that gave the Wild a 3-1 lead by making a tic-tac-toe on-touch pass from Cal Clutterbuck to Erik Christensen at the 15:24 mark of the second period on the power play.
Christensen beat the defender to the top of the crease and redirected the pass between Brian Boucher’s
However, all the offense he provides cannot make up for the continued defensive mistakes.
“Mistakes happen,” Brodziak said. “We can’t let it de-rail us. Like it happened in the third, they get a goal and all our life left. We can’t let that happen. We have to be stronger than that mentally.”
The Wild (29-32-10) gave up another goal very early in the first period when Drayson Bowman intercepted a cross-ice pass from Clayton Stoner intended for Tom Gilbert at the 1:02 mark at the top of the circles. He beat Matt Hackett with a backhand shot a few strides from where he intercepted the puck.
Stoner did not look and just flung the pass, but Gilbert is equally to blame. He did not say anything to let Stoner know Bowman was there and was not in position to defend the goal.
The Hurricanes (28-29-15) started its comeback at the 17:14 mark of the second period when Bowman slid a pass to front of the net, off Devin Setoguchi’s skate and into the net. Setoguchi inadvertently redirected the puck into the open net behind Hackett while backchecking.
The Hurricanes broke the game open with three goals in the third period, including a top-shelf backhand shot by Brandon Sutter on a breakaway.
Tim Brent stepped out of the penalty box shortly before firing a shot from the point through traffic at the 8:04 mark of the third period for the game-winner.
The Hurricanes put the game away with an empty net goal with one minute and 15 seconds remaining.
Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk made his return home with a plus-one rating, three hits and two blocked shots while playing 25 minutes and three seconds in 35 shifts.
The former University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldog and South St. Paul native was playing his first game in the Xcel Energy Center since leading the Bulldogs to an NCAA championship last season.
“I’ve been talking to family and friends about it for some time now,” Faulk said about coming home. “It was pretty exciting. I’ve been waiting for it for awhile.”
Three Stars
No. 3 – Brandon Sutter. The Hurricanes forward recorded a goal and an assist.
No. 2 – Kyle Brodziak. The Wild forward recorded a point on all three Wild goals; a goal and two assists.
No. 1 – Drayson Bowman. The Hurricanes forward scored two goals and an assist.
Boxscore
Carolina 1 1 3 – 5
Minnesota 1 2 0 – 3
First Period – 1, Carolina, Bowman 4 (unassisted), 1:02. 2, Minnesota, Brodziak 18 (Kampfer, Gilbert), 7:08. Penalties – Dwyer, Car (cross checking), 3:24; Heatley, Min (elbow), 3:24; Sutter, Car, major (fighting), 3:24; Prosser, Min, major (fighting), 3:24.
Second Period – 3, Minnesota, Johnson 7 (Brodziak, Scandella), 12:33. 4, Minnesota, Christensen 4 (Brodziak, Clutterbuck), 15:24 (pp). 5, Carolina, Bowman 5 (Sutter, Stewart), 17:14. Penalties – McBain, Car (holding), 14:03.
Third Period – 6, Sutter 15 (Bowman), 7:46. 7, Carolina Brent 11 (Staal, Tlusty), 8:04. 8, Carolina Larose 16 (Jokinen), 18:45 (en). Penalties – Brent, Car (tripping), 5:38; Gilbert, Min (tripping), 6:03.
Shots on goal – Carolina 8-11-15 34. Minnesota 4-10-12 26.
Goalies – Carolina, Boucher (23-26). Minnesota, Hackett (29-33). A – 18,394. Referees – Dean Morton, Paul Devorski. Linesmen – Pierre Champoux, Bryan Pancich.
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