The Minnesota Wild just have not found their groove. Entering Thursday's contest against the Anaheim Ducks, the team's shared two of the worst power play conversion percentages in the NHL, but four power play goals were scored on Thursday. Unfortunately, two of them belonged to the Ducks, and it allowed them to take the lead and not relinquish it en route to a 3-2 win at the Xcel Energy Center.
Corey Perry got things started with a power play goal in the first period, taking a feed from Ryan Getzlaf and beating Niklas Backstrom, who had committed to a potential shot from Getzlaf. Bobby Ryan would get the next score, putting the Ducks up 2-0, but Jared Spurgeon of the Wild brought them back within one on the man advantage. The puck deflected off of Devin Setoguchi and Spurgeon caught the long rebound, shooting from the right point to get his first goal of the season.
Anaheim quickly put things out of reach though, with a power play goal from Getzlaf, and though the Wild would score again - this one a power play goal 14 minutes into the third period - the game was out of reach and the Ducks held on for a 3-2 win. It was a win that snapped the Ducks three-game losing streak and five straight losses in Minnesota. The Wild did have a chance to bring things back in the final minutes, just down one goal, but they took anothertwo penalties in the final five minutes.
The loss brings the Wild to 3-3-3 on the season, and they'll be looking ahead to Saturday's game against the Detroit Red Wings for redemption.