Wild shut out by Miller, Ducks in fifth straight loss

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild were shut out for the second straight game and lost their fifth in a row, 4-0 to the Anaheim Ducks at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.

The Wild (27-27-6), 0-4-1 in their past five games, matched their season-high losing streak; they were 0-4-1 from Dec. 15-27. Minnesota, which lost 4-0 to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, has one win in its past 10 games (1-6-3) but holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks.
"I didn't think we paid the price to win," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Simple as that. You got to get to the front of the net. You got to get the dirty goals."
WATCH: [All Ducks vs. Wild highlights]
Ryan Miller made 31 saves for Anaheim (24-27-9), which has won two games in a row and three of four since general manager Bob Murray fired Randy Carlyle and took over as interim coach Feb. 10. The Ducks trail the Wild by three points.
It was Miller's first shutout of the season and the 44th of his NHL career.
"The hockey gods put me out for 10 weeks, so this is a little bit of retribution, I guess," said Miller, who got his 375th NHL win to set the record for a U.S.-born goalie in a 5-2 victory against the Washington Capitals on Sunday, his first game since injuring his knee Dec. 9 against the New Jersey Devils. "I knew we'd come around at some point. … When a team's skating hard, things are going to happen."
Jakob Silfverberg crashed the net and gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:22 of the second period. He scored twice against Washington and has four goals in the past four games.

"I think we're all playing with a little bit more energy and playing with a little extra jump in our legs," Silfverberg said. "I think (we're) playing with some more confidence … so it's nice to get a couple of wins.
"When we win games, we win because we played good hockey, not just because we have a good goalie who makes 40 stops -- we actually play good hockey."
Corey Perry scored off a pass from Ryan Getzlaf to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead at 14:16 of the third period. It was his second goal in two games after he failed to score in his first seven of the season following Sept. 26 surgery on his right knee.
Ryan Kesler scored unassisted at 15:59 to make it 3-0. It was his first goal in 39 games dating to Nov. 6.

"I thought our line (with Nick Ritchie and Carter Rowney) the last couple games had been dangerous. Just no puck luck, even early on," Kesler said. "We hit a post and we had some good looks in front. We just couldn't put it in the back of the net. Finally, our line got one."
Hampus Lindholm scored into an empty net at 18:51 for the 4-0 final.
"We knew at the end of this game we were either going to be seven points out or three points out (of a wild card spot)," Kesler said. "I thought we did a good job and stuck together, even early in the first when we took two penalties back to back. I thought our [penalty kill] did a tremendous job. [Miller] did a great job too. Then we got some puck luck there at the end."
Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk allowed three goals on 23 shots.

They said it

"I'm just happy the guys are competing and working again and having some fun. I'm glad they're getting some success." -- Ducks coach Bob Murray on climbing back into the playoff race
"I still believe in our group. We're just snakebitten. Guys are working, and when you're winning, you might not have to work as hard and things come easier. And now that we can't win, everything's just a lot different. Guys are working probably a lot harder than when we were winning. We're just not scoring goals." -- Wild defenseman Ryan Suter

Need to know

Getzlaf has five assists in the past five games. ... Max Jones had an assist on Silfverberg's goal for his first NHL point. ... The Wild were 0-for-3 on the power play. ... Minnesota has allowed at least four goals in seven of the past nine games and has not scored in 156:00.

What's next

Ducks: At the Calgary Flames on Friday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Wild: At the New York Rangers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV