NEWARK, N.J. _ Third time's a charm, apparently.
After falling apart late in regulation while protecting a one-goal lead before expiring in overtime in each of the first two outings on this three-game road trip, the Wild finally figured out how to close out a game in the finale _ preserving a 3-2 decision over the Devils Tuesday at Prudential Center that secured goalie Kaapo Kahkonen's first NHL victory in his league debut.
Kahkonen made 32 saves.
Defenseman Ryan Suter broke a 2-2 tie 3 minutes into the third period on a rising shot after an offensive-zone faceoff win and instead of crumbling like they did last Saturday in Boston (5-4) and Monday in New York against the Rangers (3-2), the Wild held off the Devils.
Who knows, though, how the game would have unraveled had the Devils not been credited with their first goal.
Only four seconds into their first power play, the Wild capitalized at 5:30 _ a point shot by Suter that was tipped in front by winger Zach Parise for his second goal in as many games and team-leading 10th tally.
New Jersey evened it at 12:44 when Jesper Boqvist's shot clipped winger Luke Kunin's stick and slid five-hole on Kahkonen.
The Wild issued a coach's challenge after Wayne Simmonds high-sticked the puck in the neutral zone before catching up to it in the offensive zone and setting up Boqvist.
After a video review, the NHL determined the goal counted.
But it shouldn't have.
According to a clarification issued Oct. 1 by the league to a previous rule change announced at the draft, "if the missed game stoppage is a batted puck committed by the attacking player from the neutral zone to himself or a teammate in the offensive zone _ a Coach's Challenge by the defending team would be successful."
In the third period, the NHL issued a statement that confirmed "a missed game stoppage event occurred" and "Minnesota's challenge should have resulted in the New Jersey goal being disallowed."
Not only did the Wild not get the goal wiped off the board, but they were also dinged with a penalty for an unsuccessful challenge.
A back-and-forth tug of war between the Wild and Devils continued in the second.
Winger Jordan Greenway reestablished a Wild lead 10:07 into the period when he picked up a turnover in the neutral zone forced by center Joel Eriksson Ek and wired a puck glove-side on goalie Louie Domingue during a partial breakaway.
Just 3:21 later, New Jersey _ again _ had a reply. This time, the response came on the power play: a redirect by Kyle Palmieri as he crashed the net.
The Devils finished 1 for 2, while the Wild went 1 for 4.
Domingue ended up with 26 saves.
