Wild 4, Senators 3
OTTAWA -- The Minnesota Wild were led to victory by their captain Wednesday at Canadian Tire Centre.
Wild center Mikko Koivu cut in from the right wing and fired a shot high past goaltender Craig Anderson on the stick side for the winning goal with 2:57 left in the third, giving Minnesota a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators outshot the Wild 37-25, but Minnesota goalie Josh Harding was able to bounce back from an early exit in Tuesday's 6-2 loss in Montreal.
The Senators were also coming off a road loss Tuesday, when they fell 5-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Senators winger Milan Michalek scored his first goal in 10 games on the power play at 8:57 of the third period.
Wild winger Dany Heatley broke a 2-2 tie when he outbattled Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson at the side of the net and tucked a shot in off Anderson at 6:15 of the second period. The goal, Healtey's fourth of the season, came just 3:15 after Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin pulled his team even with a wrist shot from the point.
Both teams put a mark on the score board with Senators defenseman Jared Cowen serving an interference penalty early in the first period.
The Senators opened the scoring for just the seventh time in 22 games when winger Clarke MacArthur put his stick between his legs and made a pass in full flight to center Kyle Turris, who squeezed a shot between the pads of Harding at 5:54 of the first. The lead lasted just 59 seconds, however, as winger Jason Pominville whipped a shot past Anderson on the power play for his 13th of the season.
Senators winger Mika Zibanejad put the home side in front with a goal off a scramble in front of the net at the 11:11 mark. It was the fifth of the season for the former first-round pick, who spent the past couple weeks on Ottawa's fourth line.
The Wild continue on with the third of a four-game road trip when they visit Winnipeg on Saturday. The Senators are also off until Saturday, when they are in Detroit to take on the Red Wings.
NOTES: Senators C Kyle Turris' goal was the team's first while short-handed this season. Entering the night, Ottawa was one of just seven clubs without a short-handed goal. It was also the first short-handed goal of Turris' career. ... Wild LW Jason Zucker was recalled before the game and placed on the team's second line with C Mikael Granlund and RW Jason Pominville. It was the second NHL game this season for Zucker, who had four goals and four assists in 12 games for the Wild's AHL affiliate in Iowa. Zucker took the spot of W Torrey Mitchell, who was injured in Tuesday's game against Montreal and is listed as day-to-day. ... Senators coach Paul MacLean brought a 1-0-0 record against the Wild into the game. MacLean picked up his first win as an NHL head coach against Minnesota on Oct. 11, 2011. ... Wild C Zenon Konopka and RW Dany Heatley, both former Senators who now play on Minnesota's fourth line, received completely different receptions from the fans. Heatley, a former two-time 50 goal scorer for Ottawa, was booed by those who still haven't forgiven him for demanding a trade in the summer of 2009. Konopka, who had 193 penalty minutes in 55 games for the Senators in 2011-12, was cheered when shown on the center ice scoreboard.
