ANAHEIM, Calif. — Nick Johnson scored the go-ahead goal with 5:31 left in the third period, Casey Wellman and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored 32 seconds apart in the second, and the Wild kept the Ducks winless in the Bruce Boudreau era, winning 4-3 Sunday night.
Matt Cullen had three assists for Minnesota against his former club, and Josh Harding, starting for injured Niklas Backstrom, made 24 saves as Minnesota opened a five-game trip.
Anaheim is 0-2 since recently deposed Washington coach Boudreau replaced Randy Carlyle behind the bench Wednesday.
The Ducks, who have won just three of their past 21 games, squandered a 2-0 lead two nights after blowing a 3-0 advantage in Boudreau's debut, a 4-3 overtime loss to Philadelphia. It was also the third time in five games Anaheim blew a two-goal lead.
The victory put the Wild atop the overall league standings with 37 points under rookie coach Mike Yeo. It is off to its best start in the franchise's 11 years, 17-7-3, and has won four straight and nine of 11
game highlights: The host Avalanche ended the Red Wings' winning streak at seven games, 4-2. … Canucks wing Mason Raymond played his first game since breaking his back in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final against the Bruins last season and had an assist in a 5-1 win over the visiting Flames.
realignment: Because of playoff ramifications, the players association is against a plan that would change the league format from two conferences of three divisions each to two conferences of two each, the New York Post reported. The union, which doesn't have a vote in the issue being discussed at this week's Board of Governors meeting, believes it would be unfair that two of the four divisions would have seven teams each and two would have eight. The meetings begin today in Pebble Beach, Calif.
| Wild | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| at Ducks | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
First Period—1, Anaheim, Getzlaf 6 (Perry, Selanne), 5:57 (pp). 2, Anaheim, S.Koivu 5 (Selanne, Beleskey), 9:25. 3, Minnesota, Heatley 8 (Cullen, M.Koivu), 19:56 (pp). Penalties—Schultz, Min (high-sticking), 5:42; Staubitz, Min, major (fighting), 10:28; Jacques, Ana, major (fighting), 10:28; Ryan, Ana (interference), 18:30; Lydman, Ana (high-sticking), 19:03.
Second Period—4, Minnesota, Wellman 2 (Cullen, Bouchard), 15:18. 5, Minnesota, Bouchard 4 (Cullen, Wellman), 15:50. Penalties—Stoner, Min (hooking), 8:05; Sbisa, Ana (interference), 11:10.
Third Period—6, Anaheim, Fowler 3, 10:45. 7, Minnesota, Johnson 4 (Clutterbuck, Brodziak), 14:29. 8, Minnesota, Clutterbuck 8, 19:49 (en-sh). Penalties—M.Koivu, Min (cross-checking), 18:02. Shots on Goal—Minnesota 17-13-6—36. Anaheim 9-4-14—27. Power-play opportunities—Minnesota 1 of 3; Anaheim 1 of 3. Goalies—Minnesota, Harding 7-2-1 (27 shots-24 saves). Anaheim, Hiller 6-11-5 (35-31).
| at Avalanche | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Red Wings | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
First Period—1, Detroit, Franzen 12 (Datsyuk, Lidstrom), 15:08 (pp). Penalties—V.Filppula, Det (hooking), 5:34; Quincey, Col (cross-checking), 13:29.
Second Period—2, Colorado, O'Reilly 5 (Landeskog), :26. 3, Colorado, Stastny 8 (Duchene), 2:11 (pp). Penalties—Ericsson, Det (cross-checking), :43; E.Johnson, Col (tripping), 5:26; Landeskog, Col (high-sticking), 10:33; Kronwall, Det (interference), 15:51.
Third Period—4, Detroit, Cleary 5 (Zetterberg, Bertuzzi), 5:08. 5, Colorado, Galiardi 3 (Landeskog), 9:22 (sh). 6, Colorado, O'Reilly 6 (McClement, Winnik), 19:26 (en). Penalties—O'Byrne, Col (high-sticking), 1:16; Wilson, Col (cross-checking), 7:24. Shots on Goal—Detroit 11-4-14—29. Colorado 7-19-9—35. Power-play opportunities—Detroit 1 of 5; Colorado 1 of 3. Goalies—Detroit, Conklin 1-3-0 (34 shots-31 saves). Colorado, Varlamov 9-10-1 (29-27).
| at Canucks | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Flames | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
First Period—1, Calgary, Tanguay 5 (Horak, Bourque), 18:34. Penalties—Glencross, Cal (delay of game), 9:20; Comeau, Cal (roughing), 10:03.
Second Period—2, Vancouver, Bieksa 2 (Higgins, Booth), 5:13 (pp). 3, Vancouver, Higgins 8 (Booth, Hamhuis), 19:01. Penalties—H.Sedin, Van (hooking), 1:01; Iginla, Cal (goaltender interference), 3:29; Smith, Cal (holding), 10:33; Higgins, Van (interference), 15:35.
Third Period—4, Vancouver, Booth 5 (Kesler, Higgins), :40. 5, Vancouver, Hansen 7 (Raymond, Ballard), 1:54. 6, Vancouver, D.Sedin 9 (Kesler, H.Sedin), 5:42 (pp). Penalties—Bourque, Cal (cross-checking), 5:14; Booth, Van (goaltender interference), 7:57; Kostopoulos, Cal (roughing), 11:00; Stajan, Cal, major-misconduct (fighting), 11:00; Rome, Van (cross-checking, roughing), 11:00; Lapierre, Van, major-misconduct (fighting), 11:00; Backlund, Cal (hooking), 17:31. Shots on Goal—Calgary 13-4-5—22. Vancouver 10-15-11—36. Power-play opportunities—Calgary 0 of 3; Vancouver 2 of 6. Goalies—Calgary, Karlsson 0-4-1 (32 shots-27 saves), Kiprusoff (6:39 third, 4-4). Vancouver, Luongo 8-6-1 (22-21).
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