ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mikko Koivu scored for Minnesota and Ilya Bryzgalov denied all three Boston shots in the shootout, lifting the Wild to a 4-3 victory over the Bruins on Tuesday night that clinched a wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoffs.
Koivu, who had two assists, switched to his backhand to flip the puck past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask in the second round.
UP NEXT
WHO: Bruins at Winnipeg Jets
WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursday
TELEVISION: NESN plus
Additional Photos
When Bryzgalov stopped Brad Marchand’s try with his pad to end it, he pumped his arms as he skated out of the crease to celebrate with his teammates. The Wild will be the seventh seed and face the division winner with the fewest points.
With Bryzgalov pulled for the extra skater late in regulation, the Wild had the Bruins in brief disarray on the defensive end, and Ryan Suter knocked in the tying goal with 65 seconds remaining.
The Wild kept up the pressure, outshooting the Bruins 6-2 in overtime, but misfired on a couple of close-in chances and had to settle for the shootout.
As play was about to begin for the third period, the overtime loss by ninth-place Phoenix at Columbus that guaranteed a place in the postseason for Minnesota was announced to the crowd and received with a hearty cheer.
But the Wild went out and assured themselves of a top wild-card slot by rallying for the win.
Jason Pominville had two goals and an assist for the Wild, who only advanced past the first round in one of their previous four appearances, when they reached the Western Conference finals in 2003. With two games to go, they have 96 points.
Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron and Loui Eriksson scored for the Bruins, 16-1-3 in their past 20 games.
Late in the second period, Zdeno Chara wound up from the point on a power play. Eriksson and Gregory Campbell were parked just outside the crease, and the puck appeared to deflect first off Campbell’s stick before Eriksson poked it in for the lead with 3:42 left.
The Bruins, who clinched the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs, held leading scorer Jarome Iginla out for the third time in the past four games because of a lower-body injury.
Pominville put the Wild in front 65 seconds into the game with just 24 seconds elapsed on a power play, when his slap shot got through a crowd and into the upper right corner past Rask.
Bryzgalov made 44 saves over the past two games to blank Pittsburgh and Winnipeg and put Minnesota on the brink of the postseason. His shutout streak ended at 145 minutes and 15 seconds, when Smith snagged a clearing attempt by Kyle Brodziak and sent in an unassisted power-play goal for his 20th score of the season.
Bergeron gave the Bruins the lead midway through the first period, and Pominville answered 28 seconds later with his team-leading 29th goal.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.