St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Todd White scored 1:03 into overtime to lift
the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at Xcel Energy
Center.
In the extra session, Pierre-Marc Bouchard left a drop pass for White just
inside the blueline and from the left circle, White unleashed a wrister that
went through the legs of Peter Budaj to give Minnesota the victory in its
first game of the season.
"We had trouble finishing off games last year, so hopefully this is a sign of
good things to come," said White.
Marian Gaborik and Branko Radivojevic each registered a goal and an assist for
the Wild, who failed to make the playoffs last season. Pavol Demitra, who
signed as a free agent with Minnesota in the offseason, added two assists.
Wild goaltender Manny Fernandez finished with 29 saves in the victory.
Brad Richardson scored two goals, including one short-handed for the
Avalanche, who dropped a 3-2 overtime game to Dallas on Wednesday to open
their season.
"That is just the way it goes sometimes, I thought we played well," said
Richardson.
Budaj allowed three goals on 33 shots while Ian Laperriere added an assist in
the loss.
Minnesota made it a 1-0 game scoring with 6:50 remaining in the opening
period. Gaborik's wrist shot from the slot was stopped by Budaj, but
Radivojevic controlled the rebound in front and after two attempts, lifted the
disc over the netminder for the goal.
Gaborik scored just 26 seconds into the middle session to give the Wild a 2-0
lead. On a 2-on-1 rush, Radivojevic skated up the right side and feathered a
pass across to Gaborik, who one-timed the feed past Budaj.
Colorado made it a 2-1 game after Richardson tallied a short-handed goal at
the 6:06 mark of the second period. Richardson intercepted a pass in the
neutral zone and skated in all alone on net. On his backhand, Richardson slid
the puck through the legs of Fernandez for the goal.
The Avalanche controlled the play in the first 10 minutes of the third period
but could not get the puck past Fernandez.
Then, with 6:06 left in the third frame, the Avs netted the equalizer to tie
the game at 2-2. Richardson dashed into the Minnesota zone along the right
boards and from the top of the circle let go a wrister that beat Fernandez on
his glove side.
Neither team had a great scoring chance the rest of the way in regulation,
sending the contest into overtime.
