Dowd, Pellerin reflect on their chapter in Wild lore

When Ryan Donato made a seemingly innocuous play along the left-wing boards last Friday in Washington, little did he know that he would be a part of Minnesota Wild history.
Donato's effort play jarred the puck free at center for Jordan Greenway, who kicked it forward to his backhand, bodied Tom Wilson to keep control, then cut to the top of the crease, where he made a nice move around goaltender Braden Holtby, scoring into a gaping net to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.
While Greenway's pretty goal made all the highlight shows, it was Donato's low-key play near the benches that will go into the record books as the 10,000th point in Wild history.

"It's definitely something special," Donato said. "It could have gone to anybody but just to have that is pretty cool. Something I can tell the kids one day. But it's not like I did anything too much, I think Greener made a ridiculous play. But it is pretty cool."
It took the franchise nearly 18 full seasons to reach 10,000, with 3,687 of those points being goals and 6,313 of them going down as assists.
The milestone came 6,742 days after the first game in franchise history, Oct. 6, 2000, in Anaheim's Arrowhead Pond.
That night, the Wild scored its first (and second and third) points in franchise history. It was a second-period goal by Marian Gaborik, who would go on to become the team's all-time leading goal scorer, getting the Wild off and running.
On the assists were Scott Pellerin and Jim Dowd, two journeymen players who scratched and clawed to have the stellar NHL careers that they did.
It was an interesting combination put together by Hall-of-Fame coach Jacques Lemaire.
An 18-year-old NHL rookie at the time, Wild players knew then that Gaborik would go on to have an outstanding career in the League, one that (technically) continues in Ottawa. The Slovakian winger, Minnesota's first-ever draft pick selected third overall the previous summer, has played in more than 1,000 NHL games, scored 407 goals and 815 points, so it was no surprise that it was he who would break the ice for the first point in Wild history.

For Wild players back then, having the opportunity to play in the first game -- and potentially be the one to score the first goal -- was an opportunity they relished.
With the exception of Gaborik, nearly every other player on the team was a castoff. They were someone left exposed in the Expansion Draft, left unsigned from the previous season or in the case of Wes Walz, someone who was playing overseas the year before.
Playing in Minnesota offered them a fresh start in the NHL, one that may not have been possible without expansion.
"I knew right off the bat that we had a chance to be a good, solid team," Dowd said. "All the guys they brought in were hard-working players that had hockey sense, had some skill and some grit."
The combination of Gaborik, Pellerin and Dowd epitomized that, and was a line put together by Lemaire for most of the short time they were together.
While Gaborik and Dowd had lengthy runs with the Wild, Pellerin's stay in Minnesota lasted just 58 games. Having scored 11 goals and 39 points while posting a plus-6 -- all for a first-year expansion club -- Pellerin was a valuable trade chip at the deadline that year and was moved to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Still, Pellerin said he looks back fondly at his few months in Minnesota, a 58-game stretch amongst a 536-game NHL career that spanned 11 seasons and seven different franchises.
His 11 goals with Minnesota that year were the second-most he ever scored in a single season.
"That line really clicked," Pellerin said. "Just to have Marian's speed, energy and his ability to finish and for Jimmy and I to be able to read plays. It was one of my most productive seasons as an NHL player."
For Dowd, playing with Pellerin and Gaborik allowed him to have the best season of his career up to that point, as he finished the year with seven goals and 29 points. He would have his best season the following year when he scored 13 goals and 43 points.
"It was just a good mixture. That line had a little bit of everything," Dowd said. "Gabby was an 18-year-old rookie in the NHL but you could tell right off the bat that this kid was going to be a player. He reminded us of a young Pavel Bure. You get him the puck in the offensive zone -- or anywhere for that matter -- and he had a good chance of scoring because he had such an unbelievable shot."
The first goal was the result of a common motto for that line: Get Gabby the puck.
Trailing 2-0 with time running down in the second period, the Wild badly needed a goal to get back into the game.
Gaborik, Dowd and Pellerin established a strong cycle in the offensive zone. They got the puck to the right point and defenseman Filip Kuba, whose shot got deflected into the left corner. It came around the boards to defenseman Brad Bombardir, who rimmed the puck in.
Dowd went to the corner and got a piece of the puck before it got to Pellerin behind the goal. Instead of a wraparound shot on his forehand, Pellerin surprised goaltender Guy Hebert by firing a nifty backhand pass to Gaborik at the front of the net for a quick one-timer.

As he would do many times, Gaborik didn't miss. And like that, the Wild was on the board for the very first time.
It's a play Dowd and Pellerin still look back fondly on nearly two decades later.
"To do it in Minnesota? It's great," Dowd said. "It's not like it was as an expansion team in a place that didn't care about hockey. Minnesota has always been a hockey hotbed, so it was perfect to do it in a place like that."
In a season full of firsts, Pellerin said having his name in the record books as the first person to ever tally an assist is a career highlight.
The fact that it was on Gaborik's first career goal as well makes it even more memorable.
"To be able to play in that first game and be a part of that historic night with that franchise is special," Pellerin said. "And to be a part of that first goal, with Marian getting it as our first draft pick, that was pretty cool."