Bruins clinch an Overtime win against the Wild
The Boston Bruins needed a win, any win, but one like this could really kick-start a new beginning. Loui Eriksson’s goal 1:30 into overtime gave Boston a 3-2 win over Minnesota on Wednesday night, only the second victory for the Bruins in eight games and the fourth loss for the Wild in the past six. Carl Soderberg, who set up the winner with a cross-crease pass in front of Wild defenseman Marco Scandella, scored in the first period for the Bruins. So did Patrice Bergeron, on a send-it-at-the-net shot just across the blue line that knuckled in front of Niklas Backstrom and skipped past the goalie’s blocker.
Niklas Svedberg made 35 saves for the Bruins and was brilliant overall, especially in the second period, when the Wild outshot the Bruins a whopping 20-5 without a score to show for it. ”We’ve played some games where we’ve worked really hard and haven’t gotten the results we wanted,” Svedberg said. ”Obviously it’s a great feeling for us to get a win. We’ve just got to build off it.”
The Wild on the other hand, are third-to-last in the NHL, with a 12.3 percent success rate and have been very unlucky with illness’ affecting their keepers with Backstrom playing through a stomach illness at Chicago on Tuesday, giving up four goals on 38 shots in the 5-3 loss and again replacing starter Darcy Kuemper, who came down with a similar sickness a few hours before faceoff.
Soderberg has finally scored for the first time in 16 games since November. Bergeron’s goal was his first in 12 games also since November. Eriksson’s goal means he has managed 29 points in 31 games against the Wild, with Backstrom falling to 5-0-2 in 7 starts against the Bruins.