Niederreiter extends goal streak in Wild win against Avalanche

ST. PAUL, Minn.-- Nino Niederreiter extended his goal streak to six games, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout at Xcel Energy Center on Friday.

Niederreiter one-timed a pass from Mikko Koivu on the power play at 5:02 of the second period to tie the game 2-2.
"We got the lead and thought it was going to be an easy game, I thought, and then they got a couple goals, and all of a] sudden, we had fallen behind," Niederreiter said. "We found a way to come back, but it was definitely a tough game."
***[WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Wild highlights\]*
Charlie Coyle and Chris Stewart scored for Minnesota in the shootout. Wild goalie Alex Stalock made 28 saves and stopped Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon in the shootout.
"That felt nice. Honestly I don't know the last time I've won a shootout," Stalock said. "It's nice to do that. Just fun to see it go in and get the two points."
Minnesota (11-8-3) has a point in seven of its past eight games, going 6-1-1 since Nov. 9. The past three games have been decided by one goal.

"Every now and again a coach would like to see a 5-0 win," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "But I think it gets you ready that when the tight games are tight you're not getting all nervous and everything because you've been here before. We've done it pretty well for 22 games now."
Jonathan Bernier made 25 saves making his third consecutive start for Colorado (11-8-2), which had won two in a row.
"It's a big road point for our team," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "I don't like giving up two (points) to them, but I like the way we played again tonight. I think our belief system is starting to build and putting some games together that we're playing well. We'll take the point."

Eric Staal passed to Jason Zucker in the slot to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead 1:13 into the first period.
J.T. Compher picked up a puck lost by Wild defenseman Mike Reilly and scored his second shorthanded goal of the season at 10:23 of the first for a 1-1 tie. Blake Comeau gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 15:54 with a shot that beat Stalock five-hole.

Goal of the game

Coyle's goal in the shootout.

Save of the game

Stalock's save on Mikko Rantanen 34 seconds into the third period.

Highlight of the game

Niederreiter's goal at 5:02 of the second period.

They said it

"They had a couple scoring chances in the overtime, but it doesn't really matter how many saves you make in OT, you need to find a way to make those in the shootout." -- Avalanche goalie Jonathan Bernier
"We're trying. Every game we've played I think this year has been a nail-biter. I don't think there's been one way that we've been blown out or one way that we've blown another team out. So I guess that's what we have. So if we're not competing, we're going to struggle. The more we compete, we're in every game." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Need to know

Niederreiter has seven goals in his goal streak, five power-play goals in a five-game power-play goal streak, and nine points (seven goals, two assists) in an eight-game point streak. His goal streak tied the Wild record set by Brian Rolston from Jan. 21-Feb. 5, 2008, and his power-play goal streak is a Wild record. … Zucker has 11 points (nine goals, two assists) in the past 10 games. … Staal has eight points (two goals, six assists) in the past six games and 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in the past 10 games. He leads the Wild with 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 22 games. … Avalanche forward Sven Andrighetto played 10:29 and had two shots in his first game after being a healthy scratch. … Koivu has seven assists in a five-game assist streak. … Wild forward Mikael Granlund has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in a six-game point streak. … Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov (illness) is a game-time decision for Saturday against the Calgary Flames.

What's next

Wild: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: Host the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, ALT, NHL.TV)