Wild stay alive with OT win against Stars

DALLAS-- Mikko Koivu scored 4:55 into overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a series-extending 5-4 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round at American Airlines Center on Friday.
Koivu redirected a Ryan Suter wrist shot from the left point for his second goal of the game. He scored the tying goal with 3:09 remaining in the third period.

"All the goals tonight and the whole game kept us alive here, and now we have another chance to go home and play in Game 6. Now the preparing starts for that one," Koivu said.
Minnesota trails the best-of-7 series 3-2 with Game 6 at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVA Sports).
Dallas, looking to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2008, took its first lead, 4-3, on a goal by Alex Goligoski with 11:04 remaining in the third.

"We were up, they were up, and everything happened so quickly," Wild center Mikael Granlund said. "I'm just really glad we got the win and we get to go back home next game."
Johnny Oduya, Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza scored for Dallas. Spezza and Goligoski scored 28 seconds apart in the third period. John Klingberg had two assists.
"I don't like the mistakes, but I think we had over 90 attempts and we had the puck most of the night," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We made some really big mistakes. We made some big mistakes on goals that we haven't been making and we've got to clean them up."
Granlund, Jordan Schroeder and Nino Niederreiter scored for the Wild. Devan Dubnyk made 37 saves.

"That's what we talked about coming into this game, was to get one here and then get back home," Dubnyk said. "We will work to use the crowd and work hard to give them a good game in Game 6. We love playing in our barn and have a great feeling about it. That was the next step for us."
Jason Pominville, Jared Spurgeon and Suter had two assists; Granlund had a goal and an assist.
"It's fun," Wild coach John Torchetti said. "That's playoff hockey. You have to be ready for it. I can't even believe they pay me for this job because it's so much fun."
The Stars trailed 2-1 to start the third period, but Benn's third goal of the series at 1:00 tied it. Minnesota regained the lead 50 seconds later when Niederreiter scored off a backhand.

Spezza scored his third goal of the series at 8:28, slipping the puck inside the far post and around an outstretched Dubnyk for a 3-3 tie.
Goligoski, who had a turnover that led to the first Wild goal, scored with a wrist shot from the left point that deflected in off Marco Scandella's back.
Granlund gave the Wild a 1-0 lead when he scored off that turnover 3:32 into the first period. Goalie Antti Niemi denied Granlund's initial shot at the near post with a pad save, but Granlund never gave up on the play and poked in a free puck.
"It was a tough play by me, obviously, on the first goal," Goligoski said. "You would like to jump on them at home. That kind of takes the wind out of your sails. We can't have mistakes like that."

Schroeder, playing his first game in the series, made it 2-0 when he scored his first NHL playoff goal off a rebound at 5:16 of the first period.
"We knew they were going to bring a strong effort. Their lives were on the line," Benn said. "They came out pretty hot. It was back and forth in the third. It was a tough one to lose."
Oduya made it 2-1 with 2:42 remaining in the first period when he beat Dubnyk far post with a slap shot from the left point. It was Oduya's first playoff goal in 29 games, since May 28, 2014 when he scored for the Chicago Blackhawks against the Los Angeles Kings.
Dallas played without injured center Tyler Seguin (Achilles), second on the Stars with 73 points this season, for a third straight game.
"We don't want to think about what happened tonight," Niemi said. "We'll probably get over it tonight, have a good travel day tomorrow and be ready to go [for Game 6]."