Foligno scores with eight seconds left, Wild top Ducks in season opener

ANAHEIM --Marcus Foligno scored off a rebound with eight seconds left in the third period to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 season-opening win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.

Foligno spun and scored on a backhand after Ducks goalie Anthony Stolarz made a save on a shot by defenseman Matt Dumba. It was the latest go-ahead goal in Wild history.
"I knew time's ticking down, so I didn't really want to move from the net," Foligno said. "I thought I might have had more body position if I kind of did a spin-o-rama, and I just got lucky."
Kevin Fiala scored, and Cam Talbot made 28 saves for the Wild.
Jakob Silfverberg scored, and Stolarz made 41 saves for the Ducks, who lost for the first time this season after winning their opener against the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Wednesday.
"We've got to get that thing to overtime," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. "That can't happen. It's not like it was a missed assignment. We just got outmuscled. It was a loose puck, a 50-50 puck, and we couldn't find it. The good thing is it does hurt now, and guys aren't accepting it."
Stolarz started in place of John Gibson, who sustained a lower-body injury in the third period Wednesday and is day to day.
Silfverberg scored on a power play 17 seconds into the second period to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.

Cam Fowler brought the puck out of the Anaheim zone and passed to Kevin Shattenkirk along the right wall. Shattenkirk passed the puck ahead to Silfverberg, who drew Talbot out of the crease and scored on a wraparound.
It was the third point of the season for Silfverberg (one goal, two assists), and the third power-play goal by the Ducks, who finished last in the NHL last season in power-play efficiency (8.9 percent).
"It was a little bit of a broken play," Silfverberg said. "It's just a regular breakout on the power play. ... 'Shatty' made a good play off the wall and gave me some room, and the puck was bouncing on me a little bit, so I took it around the net and it worked."
The Ducks were successful on all five penalty kills against the Jets, and killed their first two against the Wild before Fiala scored with the man-advantage to tie it 1-1 at 17:35.
Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon kept the puck in the Wild zone before Kirill Kaprizov passed it down low to Mats Zuccarello, who tried to feed the puck to Fiala driving to the net. The puck caromed off Ducks defenseman Greg Pateryn, but Fiala got to it and shot it past Stolarz.
"We did some things that were too cute, a little too fancy in some areas, but we did stick with it," Wild coach Dean Evason said.

The Ducks went on their final power play at 11:01 of the third period and Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell each had prime scoring chances with the man-advantage but failed to convert them.
"Those are difference-making moments," Eakins said. "Those have to go in. We just can't feel good about, 'Oh, coulda, woulda, shoulda.' We've got to get it done."
The Wild did not have a shot on goal from 5:50 of the third period until 14:57. The went on a power play at 15:01 but couldn't convert until Foligno's game-winner.
"He's a leader on our team," Evason said of Foligno. "He goes to the net. He does all the right things and says all the right things. That's why we named him an assistant captain. He does that every night, and he brings that physicality. He also has a skill set that can score goals and make plays. Very valuable player on our hockey club."
NOTES:Foligno broke the record of Jim Dowd, who scored with 16 seconds remaining on Jan. 21, 2004. Foligno is the third NHL player to score a game-winning goal in the final 10 seconds of the third period in a season opener (Dustin Penner, Edmonton Oilers, 2008-09; Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings, 2003-04). … Wild forward Brandon Duhaime had three shots on goal playing 9:01 in his NHL debut. … Defensemen Alex Goligoski, Dmitry Kulikov and Jon Merrill each made their Wild debut. Goligoski, who signed a one-year contract July 28, had three hits in 19:09. Kulikov, signed to a two-year contract July 28, blocked three shots in 15:47, and Merrill, who signed a one-year contract July 29, had two shots in 16:00. … Shattenkirk's assist was his 400th NHL point. … The Ducks recalled goalie Lukas Dostal from San Diego of the American Hockey League to back up Stolarz, who made his 25th NHL start. ... Anaheim forward Troy Terry did not play because of flu-like symptoms.