ST. PAUL, Minn. _ For the first time this season, the Wild managed back-to-back victories.
Fitting that the second would come against the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.
The Wild beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1, on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center in front of an announced crowd of 19,064. The Wild improved to 4-3-2 while Pittsburgh is 7-4-1.
Wild coach Bruce Boudreau wanted his team to get all up in Pittsburgh's business as a way to replicate last season's success against what he called Friday "the best team." The Wild won the teams' two meetings last season by a combined 10-4. Boudreau said he thought his team had the most hits all year in the game at Pittsburgh almost a year ago, when the squad managed 32.
Defenseman Matt Dumba, at least, channeled that energy in the first period by crushing Pittsburgh winger Jake Guentzel into the boards. But that was probably the biggest hit of the night.
Boudreau, though, warned against that aggressive play manifesting in penalties. The Wild ended up giving up three, including two in a wide open first period where shots were 14-13 to Pittsburgh.
"They're a very fast team, and you've got to check with your legs here. You've got to be in their face without taking stupid penalties," Boudreau said Saturday ahead of the game. "If you can do that, sometimes you can get away with a win."
Despite having the fifth-ranked power play in the league, Pittsburgh hadn't scored with the advantage in the past two games. That changed at 11:52 in the first period, with a little help from the Wild. Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin's shot banked off of Wild defenseman Kyle Quincey and goaltender Devan Dubnyk before ricocheting into the back of the net for Pittsburgh to take the lead. Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang and winger Phil Kesssel made assists.
But fewer than two minutes later, the Wild made up for that own goal. Center Matt Cullen, who won two Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh the past two seasons, took a shot, and Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray coughed up the rebound. Winger Daniel Winnik then cleaned up the puck, scooping it past Murray at 13:36 in the first period. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon also earned an assist.
Cullen said before the game there would be something different about facing this former team after all the success he had with it. But those fuzzy feelings didn't stop him from grabbing a point against Pittsburgh.
"His intelligence is right up there with everybody else's," Boudreau said Saturday ahead of the game of Cullen. "He's like a general when he's out there. He's very good for our young guys. So it's all been good so far. He should be getting on the score sheet any time soon."
The second period wasn't as exciting, as shots dwindled to six for each team in a scoreless 20 minutes.
But in a desperate third period, captain Mikko Koivu scored the game winner after redirecting defenseman Mike Reilly's perfect pass with 9:03 left in the game. Quincey also assisted.
Winger Mikael Granlund sealed the game when he drew a hooking penalty on Pittsburgh defenseman Ian Cole with 1:27 to play. Koivu nearly netted his second goal in the dying seconds but hit the post on an empty net.
Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk finished with 29 saves.
