Wild clinch playoff spot by taking Ducks to OT on
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)– The Minnesota Wild clinched a spot in the playoffs in significant fashion when Joel Eriksson Ek scored the tying goal with 20.9 seconds left in guideline, and Matt Boldy got the winner with 17.9 seconds staying in overtime to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Tuesday.The crowd erupted
again when the Wild sent out retiring goalie Marc-Andre Fleury out for overtime. Fleury made 5 saves, warding off a 4-on-3 power play.Advertisement With an empty internet for the extra aggressor,
Boldy’s pass throughout
the slot established Eriksson Ek at the edge of the crease. Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal stopped his very first shot with his stick, but a 2nd whack at the puck got it across the line for his 14th goal of the season.Rookie Sam Colangelo had the consent goal midway through
the third duration, Alex Killorn scored and Dostal stopped 37 shots for the Ducks (35-37-9 ), who were eliminated 11 days ago from postseason contention.Marcus Johansson scored for the Wild(45-30-7 ), who have the very first wild card spot and will face Vegas in the Western Conference quarterfinals.Takeaways Advertisement Ducks: Novice center Tim Washe, who was signed as a college totally free representative on Monday from national champion Western Michigan, made his
NHL launching on the
4th line.Wild: After some no-shows down the stretch while they tried to spot together an offense with super star Kirill Kaprizov and their first-line center Eriksson Ek out with injuries( both returned April 9)
, the Wild did enough to get in. They’re 5-5-2 in their last 12 games with one win in regulation.Key minute The Wild were buzzing and relatively on the edge of the go-ahead goal, when defenseman Jake Middleton– who returned from a four-game absence due to an upper-body injury– was captured out of position near the boards and let the Ducks get
behind him for a 2-on-1. Ad Mason MacTavish made Wild defenseman Jon Merrill commit to covering him in the right circle and snapped an ideal pass across the slot to Colangelo for the back-hander to beat Gustavsson.Key stat Minnesota has won 18 of 19 versus Anaheim.Up next Anaheim ends up the regular season Wednesday at
Winnipeg. Minnesota’s first-round series starts in Las Vegas either Saturday or Sunday. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL