Koivu helps Wild rally past Stars in shootout

ST. PAUL, Minn. --Mikko Koivu scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout in his 1,000th game, and the Minnesota Wild extended their point streak to nine games with a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.

Zach Parise tied it 2-2 with 2:30 remaining in regulation when he batted the rebound of Kevin Fiala's initial shot over the shoulder of Ben Bishop on the power play.
"I saw the puck go up and in your mind, you're waiting it seems like for a long time, you're just waiting for it to get below the crossbar, waiting and waiting," Parise said. "And I hit it square. I hit it pretty good. It just happened to find that hole. Big for us to get ourselves into overtime."
WATCH: [All Stars vs. Wild highlights]
Fiala had a goal and an assist, and Alex Stalock made 26 saves for the Wild (12-11-4), who have won three in a row and are 6-0-3 during their point streak.
Blake Comeau and John Klingberg scored, and Bishop made 27 saves for the Stars (15-10-3), who are 0-2-1 in their past three games after going 14-1-1 in their previous 16.
"That's what's great about hockey," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "Look at the standings, it's pretty tight. A lot of great teams in this League. Every night's a battle. You have your ups and your downs, your wins and your losses, it's really who stays most consistent and who bounces back best from losses."
Fiala scored a power-play goal at 12:43 of the second period to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead, redirecting a centering pass from Koivu in the crease. Koivu's assist was his 700th point in the NHL.

Klingberg tied it 1-1 at 15:28, scoring with a slap shot from the top of the left circle through a screen by Benn on the power play.
Comeau gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 14:09 of the third period when he stripped the puck from Eric Staal behind the net, skated into the left circle and beat Stalock five-hole.
"(The goal) would have felt better with a win," Comeau said. "That being said, there's good things to build off of. They got some lucky power-play goals. It was a nice goal by Parise on that last one to bat it out of the air, and the first one was just a bouncing puck that popped out and they threw it into the corner. They're playing well right now, especially at home. We're disappointed we didn't take two points, but to come in here and get one, it's something to build off of and now we have to get ready for Winnipeg (on Tuesday)."

They said it

"It's funny. When I took the Dallas job, I remember calling (then Chicago Blackhawks coach) Joel Quenneville and he's like, 'Well, I'm not happy to see you in the division, but welcome to the best division in sports.' It's amazing how many teams are winning. That's a really good hockey team in Minnesota, the way they're playing right now. We played really well. We didn't win the game."-- Stars coach Jim Montgomery on the Central Division
"I guess all day just tried to stay in the moment and tried to enjoy it as much as I could. It's kind of tough, too, when there's a lot of things going on. You obviously want to do good and win the game and all of that. It's almost tough to stay in the moment. It's just one hockey game really, but I think it is different and for sure a special night." -- Wild captain Mikko Koivu on playing his 1,000th game

Need to know

Dallas is 5-0-1 in its past six games against Minnesota. … Koivu is the first player to play in 1,000 games with the Wild. He and his brother, Saku (1,124 games played), are the sixth pair of siblings to each play in at least 1,000 regular-season games. … Stalock's start was his 100th in the NHL. … Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon had an assist and has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games. … Parise has scored in four straight games and has eight goals in his past nine.

What's next

Stars: At the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Wild:At the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)