In Anaheim, the Ducks’ Mason McTavish scored early in the second period to give them a 1-0 lead over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. 
From there, it was all Wild, as Minnesota scored four unanswered goals, including three in the third, for a 4-1 win, their sixth straight.
“Every coach obviously preaches defense-first and we certainly have,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “We gave up a lot of goals early in the season. Our group has made a commitment to keeping it out of the net and, obviously, our goaltenders are first and foremost making stops.”
Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves in the Wild win.
“Just too many penalties,” McTavish said. “Just giving them chances and playing with fire.”
Minnesota improved to 19-11-2.
The Wild got even, 1-1, with a marker from Connor Dewar in the second to send the game to third tied.
Anaheim dropped to 9-22-3.
Matt Boldy hit for the game-winner at 4:46 of the third.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored off the power play to give the Wild a 3-1 lead.
“That’s the disappointing thing because 5-on-5, we actually played quite well,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “But you leave the game and you have a sour taste in your mouth because all of the penalties took us out of our rhythm.”
The Wild went 1-for-6 on the power play.
Ryan Hartman potted a marker in an empty net for the 4-1 final.
“Just a good team game,” Evason said. “We defend well, block a lot of shots, get rebounds, (and) get people away from our eyes so we can see the puck.”
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Lukas Dostal started for the second straight night and made 38 saves
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