Allgemeines » in seven of its first nine games (4-2-3). Lehtonen

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild fell into a sloppy pattern of play with the puck after taking an early lead on the floundering Florida Panthers, who snapped to life to forge a tie. But the Wild proved they could learn a lesson -- and win a game. Charlie Coyle put Minnesota ahead with 8:22 remaining after Florida scored twice in the third period, and the Wild hung on to beat the Panthers 3-2 on Friday night for their sixth win in seven games. "We kind of fell into that trap a little bit after the second period, where we wanted it to be easy," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "We were hoping it was going to be easy the rest of the way. When you want it to be easy and youre not ready to do the hard things, then it ends up being very difficult." After a scoreless second period, the Wild paid for their mid-game sluggishness by giving up goals to Tomas Kopecky and Jonathan Huberdeau about 5 1/2 minutes apart. Minnesotas top line was buzzing all night, though, and came through when it counted. Mikko Koivu, who had two assists, controlled the puck along the end boards and leaned forward for an off-balance pass to Coyle, who was muscling for position in the crease with Mike Mottau. Coyle poked the puck in for his second goal in four games. "He put it right on my stick, so it found a way home," Coyle said. Since Coyle returned from injury, the Wilds lines have finally been settled. The results have been obvious. "Its nice to have, for sure, when you have guys that are going out there and they know what to expect out of their linemates," Yeo said. "At the same time we just have to make sure that we dont fall asleep here." Josh Harding stopped 22 shots to improve to 9-0 at home. The NHL leader in goals-against average has given up two goals or fewer in all but one of his 16 appearances. The Wild improved to 9-1-2 at home this season for 20 points, the most by any NHL team. At 12-4-4, they set a franchise record for most points (28) through 20 games. Zach Parise scored early in the first period during a power play off a pretty tic-tac-toe-style passing sequence from Koivu and Jason Pominville, and Pominville pushed the lead to 2-0 with his team-leading 12th goal. The Panthers have been outscored 47-19 over the first two periods this season. "We just need to learn how to play 60 minutes because thats what kills us," Huberdeau said. "Were always down. We never score the first goal." Jonas Brodins own-zone turnover set up Kopecky for the first goal, his first this season. Then after Nick Bjugstad lost the puck on a rush when Ryan Suter forced him to lose control, Huberdeau swooped in behind him to snipe a shot high over Hardings glove to break a 12-game drought. "Even on the bench there was never any panic. We stuck with it," Pominville said. Tim Thomas made 17 saves for the Panthers, who played for the first time without Kris Versteeg. He was traded to Chicago on Thursday for a pair of prospects, including 6-foot-6 right wing Jimmy Hayes, who was scratched for this game. After firing coach Kevin Dineen last week and replacing him with Peter Horachek, Florida general manager Dale Tallon has promised more changes if the Panthers dont get in a groove. They started a five-game, 6,448-mile trip by falling to 1-8-1 on the road. Their last win away from home was the season opener at Dallas. "The good thing is that we showed character in coming back again, you know? A great effort," Thomas said. "But we have to find some way to quit getting down and getting behind right off the bat." The Panthers went 0 for 3 on the power play and fell to 6 for 69 this season. "It seems like theres the same picture coming back over and over again," Horachek said. "This is definitely a project for us to get over that mental part of the game." NOTES: Rookie Johan Gustafsson was recalled from the AHL to back up Harding, with Niklas Backstrom out because of an upper-body injury sustained Wednesday when Torontos Nazem Kadri levelled him in the crease. Kadri was given a three-game suspension by the NHL. ... The Wild are 10-2-3 against the Panthers, including 5-0-2 at home. ... Bjugstad, a star at Blaine High School and the University of Minnesota, played in Minnesota as a pro for the first time. He had about 70 friends and family members in attendance. Tom Murphy Mariners Jersey . Certainly not Monday night. George Hill took care of the early work, scoring a season-high 26 points, and Paul George closed it out by scoring 11 of his 26 points during a decisive second-half stretch that finally allowed Indiana to pull away from Minnesota 98-84 for yet another win. Gerson Bautista Jersey . - The Pittsburgh Pirates plan on keeping promising left fielder Starling Marte playing alongside National League MVP Andrew McCutchen for years to come. https://www.cheapmariners.com/625k-mike-blowers-jersey-mariners.html . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. Jeff Nelson Mariners Jersey . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego. Bret Boone Jersey . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to get their struggling offense on track Friday night as they visit a Dallas Stars club that has given up its fair share of goals this season. The Ducks have lost two of three since winning seven in a row, held to just two goals over that span. They shut out the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 on Tuesday, but were then blanked 2-0 by the St. Louis Blues two nights later. Jake Allen made 24 saves for the Blues, while John Gibson came up with 27 saves in the loss. Gibson was coming off a 38-save shutout effort versus the Blackhawks. Our giveaways were immense out there, said Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau. Unforced errors, thats the thing that bugs you. The Ducks had averaged 3.43 goals per game over their winning streak and tonight face a Stars club that ranks 27th out of 30 teams in yielding 3.56 goals per game. Dallas has been idle since its own loss to the Blues on Tuesday, a 4-3 overtime setback. St. Louis got the winner on the power play as Tyler Seguin was called for high-sticking just 14 seconds into the bonus frame. Seguin and Trevor Daley both had a goal and an assist in regulation and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak had a goal as well. His first career NHL tally came at 13:10 of the first period, but the Blues countered just 35 seconds later to start a back-and-forrth affair.dddddddddddd We had just scored, said Lindy Ruff. We made it easy on them. We cut the ice into about three-quarters and said, Here, were going to give you a little bit of an opportunity. Lehtonen made 23 stops in Dallas second straight loss, though the club does have a point in seven of its first nine games (4-2-3). Lehtonen is 4-0-3 with a 2.90 goals against average and .908 save percentage this season, while backup Anders Lindback has started both regulation losses, giving up nine goals on 60 shots. Dallas will visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, so it is unknown if Lehtonen or Lindback will start tonight. Lehtonen is 9-7-3 with a 2.41 GAA and .918 save percentage in 19 starts versus the Ducks, while Lindback is 1-1-0 with a 2.62 GAA and .920 save percentage in three meetings, including two starts. Frederik Andersen figures to get the call tonight for the Ducks for the second half of back-to-back games. He won his first six starts this season before a loss to San Jose on Sunday, and has a 1.70 GAA and .940 save percentage on the season. Andersen beat the Stars the only other time he faced them, stopping all 24 shots faced over 40 minutes of relief. The Ducks have lost three of their last four to the Stars overall as well as five of seven and nine of their last 13 in Dallas. ' ' '