In St Paul, Alex Goligoski hit for the game-winner on Saturday night with 72 seconds gone in the extra session to give the Wild a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I mean, it’s been terrible [not playing] to be honest,” Goligoski said. “I mean, I’m not used to that. I’m not used to coming to the rink and not playing. That’s why I’m a little emotional right now. Yeah, it [stunk]. But you’ve got to make the most of your opportunities, so that’s what I’m trying to do.
“It was a big night. I had so much family and friends in the building. I was emotional with my family even before, so just to end up like that, it was just a crazy, emotional night.”
Sam Steel tied the game for the Wild at 1-1 with 2L37 left in regulation.
“That’s who we are. That team looked like us, right?” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “The team we played tonight pushed us to play like us because normally what we’ve done, we’ve played like that, like they do every night. It’s a really good template for us to remember, to reinforce.”
Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves in the Wild win.
Minnesota improved to 8-8-2.
Sebastian Aho staked the Hurricanes to a 1-0 lead in the first period.
“We just were [bad] after [the first period], even the second half of the first,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The fact that we got a point out of that game is a miracle, in my opinion. We were [awful].
“When you have two or three guys playing and the rest were going through the motions, that’s what you get. So, give them credit. They kept going and stuck with it. We were just flat, not good.”
Carolina dropped to 10-5-3.
“We didn’t play very [well] tonight,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal said. “Sneaking in a goal early and hoping a one-nothing game was going to do it. Sitting back wasn’t the greatest game plan and they slowly took over the game and found a way to tie it up.
Pyotr Kochetkov made 20 saves in the Canes loss.
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