ST. PAUL, Minn. — Alex Goligoski scored 1:12 into overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 come-from-behind win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.
Goligoski, who was honored by the Wild in a pregame ceremony for playing in his 1,000th NHL game on Oct. 20, won it off a pass from Sam Steelewho tied it 1-1 at 17:23 of the third period with a one-timer from the left circle.
“I mean, it’s been terrible [not playing], to be honest,” said Goligoski, who had been a healthy scratch the past six games. “I mean, I’m not used to that. I’m not used to coming to the rink and not playing. That’s why I’m a little emotional right now. Yes, it [stunk]but you’ve got to make the most of your opportunities, so that’s what I’m trying to do.
“It was a big night. I had so many family and friends in the building. I was emotional with my family even before, so just to end up like that, it was just a crazy, emotional night.”
Video: CAR@MIN: Goligoski finishes Steel’s feed in overtime
Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves for Minnesota (8-8-2), which had lost three straight.
“That’s who we are. That team looked like us, right?” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “The team we played tonight pushed us to play like us because normally what we’ve done, we’ve played like that, like they do every night. It’s a really good template for us to remember, to reinforce.”
Sebastian Aho scored, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 20 saves for Carolina (10-5-3) which has lost two in a row and three of four.
“We just were [bad] after [the first period], even the second half of the first,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The fact that we got a point out of that game is a miracle, in my opinion. We were [awful].
“When you have two or three guys playing and the rest were going through the motions, that’s what you get. So, give them credit. They kept going and stuck with it. We were just flat, not good.”
Video: CAR@MIN: Necas, Aho team up for opening goal in 1st
Aho made it 1-0 at 13:47 of the first, finishing a 2-on-1 rush with Martin Necas.
“We didn’t play very well [well] tonight,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal said. “Sneaking in a goal early and hoping a 1-0 game was going to do it. Sitting back wasn’t the greatest game plan, and they slowly took over the game and found a way to tie it up.
NOTES: Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov had an assist to extend his point streak to six games (two goals, five assists). He has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 20 games this season, becoming the third player in Minnesota history to have at least 10 goals and 10 assists through 20 games, joining Marian Gaborik (19 games in 2005-06; 20 games in 2007-08; and 20 games in 2001-02) and Zach Parise (20 games in 2014-15). … Aho’s goal was his 191st in the NHL, one shy of tying Pat Verbeek (192) for eighth in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history.
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