(Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild try to continue the best start in franchise history tonight when they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to Xcel Energy Center.
The Wild have won the first four games of a season-opening, five-game homestand and posted a 3-2 shootout win over Washington on Thursday.
Mikko Koivu scored the game-winner in the shootout to lead the Wild and Kim Johnsson scored both regulation goals on the power play. Minnesota goaltender Manny Fernandez finished with 24 saves as the Wild registered their fourth straight one-goal win.
After the Wild wrap up the homestand they will visit Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose. Pavol Demitra leads the Wild with six points and Todd White is tops with two goals.
Also, the club signed head coach Jacques Lemaire to a multiyear contract extension on Wednesday.
Columbus, meanwhile, has won two in a row after a season-opening loss to the Vancouver Canucks. In their last game on Monday, the Blue Jackets recorded a 5-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Wild have been unbeatable at home, propelling them to their best start in franchise history.
Brian Rolston scored two goals and had an assist to help the Wild remain unbeaten with a 5-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
Manny Fernandez had 24 saves for his first shutout of the season for the Wild(5-0-0), who are off to the best start in franchise history. It was the first regulation loss for Columbus. Minnesota, which entered the game with the NHL's top power-play unit, scored a pair of man-advantage goals.
"It felt good because the power play was going well and we had control of the game," said Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire. "We had a slow start, and we were a little fortunate that maybe they had the same kind of start."
The Blue Jackets, who had scored a dozen goals in their first three games, had not been shutout since March 2. Their best offensive opportunity came in the opening minutes when Rick Nash got open in front of Fernandez but clanked a backhand shot off the crossbar.
"If Nash scores early in the first period, when he hit off the crossbar, it could be a different game," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant.
Rolston, who leads the Wild with four goals, scored in the first and third periods. Minnesota led 1-0 after one period, but broke the game open in the second with goals by Keith Carney, Marian Gaborik and Mikko Koivu.
"You don't win the Stanley Cup in October, or even make the playoffs," said Rolston. "But it's a good start."
Pascal Leclaire gave up four goals before being lifted midway through the second period. Rookie Fredrik Norrena replaced him and finished with 11 saves in his NHL debut.
Wild recall forwards Foy and Smith as injury replacements
Associated Press Oct 17, 2006, 7:58 PM EDT
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -The Minnesota Wild recalled right wing Matt Foy and center Wyatt Smith from the minors on Tuesday to fill in following a rash of injuries.
Left wing Pascal Dupuis will miss at least a month with a sprained left knee sustained last Thursday. Right wing Mattias Weinhandl - felled by a concussion caused by a collision in Saturday's game - is also out.
Foy, who played in 19 games with the Wild last season, and Smith were recalled from Houston of the AHL. Smith has been in 125 NHL games with Phoenix, Nashville and the New York Islanders.
Foy and Smith were tied for the Houston lead with four points each in five games.
(Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild will try to stay unbeaten on the young season when they visit the Los Angeles Kings tonight at the Staples Center.
The Wild are off to the franchise's best-ever start to a season with wins in the first five games of the season. Only the 6-0 Buffalo Sabres have a better record than Minnesota this year.
Minnesota's latest victory came Saturday evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Brian Rolston scored twice to help the Wild earn the 5-0 victory at the Xcel Energy Center.
Marian Gaborik, Keith Carney and Mikko Koivu also lit the lamp for Jacques Lemaire's club. Wild netminder Manny Fernandez made 24 saves to notch his first shutout of the season.
Former Kings winger Pavol Demitra was acquired by the Wild in the offseason and has not disappointed so far. He has one goal and six assists on the year, registering a point in all five games. Tonight marks Demitra's first game against his former club.
The Kings will try to get back on the winning track as they have dropped three straight contests.
(Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild are off to the best start in franchise history and will take their unblemished record to the road for the next three games.
Minnesota (5-0-0) will open the trek on Wednesday in Los Angeles before making stops in Anaheim and San Jose. Brian Rolston leads the club with seven points and four goals so far this season and registered two markers in a 5-0 win over Columbus on Saturday.
Goaltender Manny Fernandez, who will start his sixth consecutive game versus Los Angeles, recorded his first shutout of the season in Saturday's win over the Blue Jackets with 24 saves.
Fernandez earned his first shutout since December 8, 2005.
Rolston made an excellent point following the game when he said the Stanley Cup and postseason berths are not clinched in October. He is right but the Wild are having a great start to the season.
Meanwhile, Pavol Demitra has one goal and six assists on the year, registering a point in all five games for the Wild, who have a pair of shootout wins and an overtime triumph this season. Demitra will take on the Kings after they traded him on draft day last June. He missed 34 games for the Kings last year with a leg injury, an eye problem and a concussion.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Marian Gaborik scored his first goal of the season in overtime, helping the Minnesota Wild beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Wednesday night for their franchise-record sixth consecutive win.
Captain Brian Rolston scored the Wild's 1,000th regular-season goal in the first period.
Los Angeles tied the game at 18:26 of the same period on Patrick O'Sullivan's first NHL goal, which survived a video review.
The Kings dropped their fourth in a row, managing one goal in each of those defeats.
Pavol Demitra set up Gaborik's winner 25 seconds into overtime, skating up the right side and sending a pass to Gaborik, who was being closely chased by a Kings defender.
The puck careened off Gaborik's right skate as he approached the net, and the momentum carried it past Kings goalie Dan Cloutier, who stopped 25 shots in regulation. Demitra's assist gave him a point in all six games this season, and extended his assist streak to six games.
Wild goalie Manny Fernandez improved to 4-0-0, making 34 saves in regulation.
(Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild will try to extend their best-ever start to a season this evening when they visit the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.
The Wild are off to a 6-0 start and are tied with Buffalo for the best record in the NHL this season. The Sabres are also in action tonight as they host Carolina.
Minnesota earned its latest victory in Los Angeles on Wednesday as the posted an overtime victory over the Kings. Marian Gaborik scored the game-winning goal just 25 seconds into the extra session to lift the Wild to the 2-1 win at Staples Center.
With overtime just underway, the Kings had the puck in Minnesota's zone, but Gaborik stole the puck away from Sean Avery and sent a pass out to former King Pavol Demitra, setting up a 2-on-1 break.
Demitra skated the puck into LA's zone before sending the puck off Gaborik's skate and past Dan Cloutier to give the Wild the dramatic win.
Manny Fernandez made 34 saves for Minnesota, while Brian Rolston scored the 1,000th goal in franchise history in the first period.
(Sports Network) - Two of the hottest teams in the NHL square off tonight, as the San Jose Sharks host the Minnesota Wild at HP Pavillion.
San Jose is off to the best start in team history at 6-1-0 and has won three straight games, including the first two of a three-game homestand. On Thursday the Sharks posted a 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Patrick Marleau scored twice to help the Sharks to their best seven-game start in franchise history. Milan Michalek, Mark Bell and Jonathan Cheechoo also scored for San Jose.
Michalek, Christian Ehrhoff, Joe Thornton and Matthew Carle each had a pair of assists in the winning effort, while goaltender Vesa Toskala blocked 21-of-22 shots for San Jose.
Toskala kept his record perfect on the season at 4-0 and his perfect 11-0 mark is the longest undefeated streak in franchise history over a two-year stretch.
Minnesota went 3-1 against the Sharks last season and has won four of the last five meetings. The Wild have won three straight after losing the last two at San Jose and are 5-2-1 in the last eight trips to the Shark Tank.
The Wild suffered their first loss of the 2006-07 season after Friday's 2-1 setback versus the Anaheim Ducks.
The Minnesota Wild will be without forward Marian Gaborik on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks.
The Slovak winger left early in the third period of Friday's 2-1 loss to Anaheim with what the team calls a mild groin strain.
Gaborik has four goals and three assists in seven games this season.
The Wild signed him to a $19 million US, three-year contract in July. Gaborik, Minnesota's highest-paid player last season at $2.679 million, is coming off the most productive season of his career.
San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Manny Fernandez stopped 31 shots to lead another strong defensive effort for Minnesota in a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
Stephane Veilleux and Wes Walz each had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who have allowed two goals or less in all but one of their eight games this season.
Minnesota improved to 7-1 this season and snapped San Jose's three-game winning streak.
Mark Parrish and Brian Rolston also scored for the Wild, who dominated by outshooting the Sharks, 32-18.
Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks, while Evgeni Nabokov stopped 14 shots. It was the second loss in eight games for San Jose this year.
The Wild bolted to a 4-0 lead by the midway point of the third period. Parrish scored on a broken play 2:31 into the game, scoring in front between Nabokov's pads after a pass behind the net from Brent Burns.
Articles for 06/07 Season
Wild put unblemished mark on the line vs. Jackets
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