BOSTON — Minnesota has had enough trouble scoring this season that Cal Clutterbuck isn’t about to question the circumstances surrounding even the flukiest of goals.
The Wild forward scored the go-ahead goal on Thursday night when he intercepted Marc Savard’s clearing attempt in the Bruins zone, and Minnesota held on to beat Boston 3-1.
“I kind of surprised myself when I got it,” Clutterbuck said. “It’s karma. That kind of thing has happened to us enough times.”
Jose Theodore stopped 35 shots, and Martin Havlat also had a bit of a lucky goal for the Wild, converting four seconds into a power play when Shawn Thornton was sent off on a misguided hooking call. Replays showed that Wild defenseman Brent Burns merely slipped and fell.
“You guys saw it,” Thornton told reporters through gritted teeth. “I can’t say anything, obviously. What did you see?”
Clutterbuck also assisted on Mikko Koivu’s empty-netter with 43 seconds left. The Wild, who entered the night 21st in the NHL in goals scored this season, have never lost in Boston, and they are 9-2 overall against the Original Six franchise since joining the league in 2000.
“Early on in the year, things weren’t going well and confidence was an issue,” Wild coach Todd Richards said. “But you walk through that room right now, and you can see the confidence starting to build.”
Tuukka Rask made 31 saves for the Bruins, who were 0 for 4 with a man advantage and have never scored a power-play goal against Minnesota. Rask fell to 3-8 for the season despite a .927 save percentage that is fourth in the NHL.
“It’s awful,” Thornton said. “Kid plays that good for us all the time, we don’t get the wins for him. We care about him and we should probably show it in a better way because he stood on his head for us pretty much every night.”
Steven Kampfer scored for Boston, which returned from a five-game road trip in which it earned eight of 10 points.
The Wild took the lead in the second period when Thornton was called for putting his stick blade in Burns’ gut, even though he had removed it before Burns went down. Thornton barely had taken his seat in the penalty box when, on the ensuing faceoff, Havlat came up with the puck, stickhandled into the slot and put a backhand past Rask to make it 1-0.
Boston tied it later in the period when Patrice Bergeron stole the puck from Burns in the Wild zone. Theodore made the save with his left knee, but left the rebound in front, where Kampfer got it and chipped it under the crossbar.
The Wild went up for good 2:25 into the third period when Savard’s pass in the Boston zone was intercepted by Clutterbuck, who wristed in a shot to make it 2-1.
“I tried to flip it out because we had a tired group out there,” Savard said. “I just fanned on it.”
Bruins coach Claude Julien benched Savard for part of the third. The 13-year NHL veteran had just three shifts for a total of 3 minutes, 20 seconds in the final period, though he was the extra skater who came out when Rask was pulled with about 1:20 left.
“When you make a mistake like that, a person has to be held accountable,” Julien said. “You don’t expect a guy like that to do something like that.”
NOTES: Minnesota has outscored Boston 33-16. … Kampfer has four goals in five games; he has only played in 13 NHL games. … Theodore has won seven of his last eight starts against the Bruins, and six of his last seven in Boston. … Wild C Patrick O’Sullivan recorded his 100th NHL assist.
| Canadiens 2, Penguins 1 |
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MONTREAL (AP) — Benoit Pouliot scored on Montreal’s fifth shootout attempt to give the Canadiens a win over Pittsburgh, which was missing injured captain Sidney Crosby.
Carey Price, who made 31 saves through overtime, was perfect in the shootout. He denied Kris Letang, Pascal Dupuis, Evgeni Malkin and Mark Letestu before stopping Chris Kunitz on Pittsburgh’s final attempt.
Pouliot deked Brent Johnson and let the puck slide into the right side of the net as Montreal won in its first shootout of the season. He also scored the tying goal in the second period as the Canadiens improved to 2-0-1 following a three-game losing streak.
Arron Asham scored in the first period for Pittsburgh, 1-2-1 in its last four games. Johnson made 22 saves, including stopping the only shot he faced in overtime.
Crosby, who leads the NHL with 32 goals and 66 points, missed his first game of the season because of an undisclosed upper body injury.
| Maple Leafs 6, Blues 5 |
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TORONTO — Tyler Bozak scored the shootout winner for Toronto, which bounced back from blowing a three-goal lead and beat St. Louis.
Bozak beat Ty Conklin with a wrist shot in the shootout, but that didn’t compare to the move by teammate Mikhail Grabovski, who made a 360 while cutting across the top of the crease and tucked the puck into the net. Kris Versteeg also scored in the tiebreaker for Toronto.
The Maple Leafs seemed to be in control when Phil Kessel’s second goal of the game 1:15 into the third period made it 5-2.
But the Blues clawed back with a goal by Brad Winchester that was confirmed by video review. Eric Brewer’s point shot found an opening at 7:40 to make it 5-4, and Matt D’Agostini completed the comeback at 13:21 when he was sent in alone and scored with a backhand deke.
Grabovski, Versteeg and Colby Armstrong also scored in regulation for the Maple Leafs.
Alex Steen and David Backes had the other goals for St. Louis.
Maple Leafs 6, Blues 5
TORONTO — Tyler Bozak scored the shootout winner for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who bounced back from blowing a three-goal lead and beat the St. Louis Blues 6-5 on Thursday night.
Bozak beat Ty Conklin with a wrist shot in the shootout, but that didn’t compare to the move by teammate Mikhail Grabovski, who made a 360 while cutting across the top of the crease and tucked the puck into the net. Kris Versteeg also scored in the tiebreaker for Toronto.
The Maple Leafs seemed to be in control when Phil Kessel’s second goal of the game 1:15 into the third period made it 5-2.
But the Blues clawed back with a strange goal by Brad Winchester that was confirmed by video review. Toronto goalie Jonas Gustavsson was pushed into the net along with the puck.
Eric Brewer’s point shot found an opening at 7:40 to make it 5-4, and Matt D’Agostini completed the comeback at 13:21 when he was sent in alone and scored with a backhand deke.
Grabovski, Versteeg and Colby Armstrong also scored in regulation for the Maple Leafs, who will start a four-game road trip in Atlanta on Friday night.
Alex Steen and David Backes had the other goals for St. Louis.
Gustavsson, who had lost five of six starts, watched as third-string goalie James Reimer earned back-to-back starts this week in place of the injured Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
Gustavsson’s biggest play of the night was covering a loose puck with his blocker late in the second period when it was unclear if Jay McClement’s shot crossed the goal line. The save helped Toronto maintain its two-goal lead.
Jaroslav Halak started in goal for St. Louis, but was pulled for only the second time this season after surrendering four goals on 19 shots.
He wasn’t helped much by his defense that appeared vulnerable to Toronto’s forechecking during the second period. Clarke MacArthur worked the puck out to Grabovski for his goal at 8:19 before Armstrong took a hit while setting up Versteeg at 10:46.
Halak’s night ended after Kessel intercepted a pass and came in alone, beating the goalie with a wrist shot at 12:15.
Toronto needed just 15 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. The puck was sent into the Blues zone after the opening faceoff, and Versteeg’s shot deflected off Armstrong and over Halak.
Steen, a former Maple Leafs player, quickly responded at 3:52. He beat Gustavsson with a low shot from the side of the net.
A turnover gave St. Louis the lead before the end of the period. D’Agostini stole the puck and got off a shot before Backes whacked in the rebound at 9:46.
NOTES: D Brett Lebda replaced Carl Gunnarsson in the Toronto lineup. … Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo both played their first game in Toronto since being traded by the Maple Leafs to the Blues in November 2008. … It was the 3,000th home game in Maple Leafs history.