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Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Johansson celebrates his goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild clinched a spot in the playoffs in dramatic fashion when Joel Eriksson Ek scored the tying goal with 20.9 seconds left in regulation, and Matt Boldy got the winner with 17.9 seconds remaining in overtime to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Tuesday.
The crowd erupted again when the Wild sent retiring goalie Marc-Andre Fleury out for overtime. Fleury made five saves, fending off a 4-on-3 power play.
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With an empty net for the extra attacker, Boldy’s pass across the slot set up Eriksson Ek at the edge of the crease. Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal stopped his first try with his stick, but a second whack at the puck got it across the line for his 14th goal of the season.
Rookie Sam Colangelo had the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, Alex Killorn scored and Dostal stopped 37 shots for the Ducks (35-37-9), who were eliminated 11 days ago from postseason contention.
Marcus Johansson scored for the Wild (45-30-7), who have the first wild card spot and will face Vegas in the Western Conference quarterfinals.
Takeaways
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Ducks: Rookie center Tim Washe, who was signed as a college free agent on Monday from national champion Western Michigan, made his NHL debut on the fourth line.
Wild: After some some no-shows down the stretch while they tried to patch together an offense with superstar Kirill Kaprizov and their first-line center Eriksson Ek out with injuries (both returned April 9), the Wild did enough to get in. They’re 5-5-2 in their last 12 games with one win in regulation.
Key moment
The Wild were buzzing and seemingly on the verge of the go-ahead goal, when defenseman Jake Middleton — who returned from a four-game absence due to an upper-body injury — was caught out of position near the boards and let the Ducks get behind him for a 2-on-1.
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Mason MacTavish made Wild defenseman Jon Merrill commit to covering him in the right circle and flicked a perfect pass across the slot to Colangelo for the back-hander to beat Gustavsson.
Key stat
Minnesota has won 18 of 19 against Anaheim.
Up next
Anaheim finishes the regular season Wednesday at Winnipeg. Minnesota’s first-round series starts in Las Vegas either Saturday or Sunday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
