Die Anpflanzler [DA] » The Minnesota Wild finally

ST. PAUL Semyon Varlamov Jersey , Minn. (AP) — played like a team urgently scrapping to remain in the playoff picture. They have 10 games to prove it’s not too little too late.Ryan Donato scored two goals and Devan Dubnyk had 26 saves as the Minnesota Wild beat the New York Rangers 5-2 on Saturday night to stay in the thick of the playoff race.Eric Staal, Jared Spurgeon and J.T. Brown also scored for the Wild, who snapped a three-game losing streak that dropped them out of the final wild card in the Western Conference. Minnesota entered the day three points behind Phoenix for the last spot. It was the Wild’s second win in 11 home games.“At the end of the day, when it comes game time there’s not a lot of words being tossed around,” Donato said. “I think it’s just a call to action, we’ve got to make sure we come out and play hard. We didn’t do our job against Dallas and we knew we really had to win this one.”The Wild dropped their previous three games by a combined 13-3 score, including a 3-0 loss to San Jose and 4-1 defeat to the Stars. Knowing the Rangers had played the night before in Calgary, the Wild wanted to make an early statement.“Our start was huge tonight,” Minnesota’s Luke Kunin said. “We got the first goal, they came back and got one and I thought we did a good job of bouncing back and getting one and getting back into it. Just a good all-around effort tonight.”The Wild won’t have to wait long to see if they can carry over the momentum — Minnesota welcomes the New York Islanders on Sunday night.“Obviously it’s desperate times,” Staal said. “We need points. We need wins.”Mika Zibanejad scored his first goal in nine games and Pavel Buchnevich added a third-period goal for the Rangers, who lost their third straight. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 41 saves and managed to keep the Rangers within striking distance.“I loved our effort, I loved the way we worked,” Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “I think guys were hungry and desperate ourselves, we just had a lot of mistakes that fed them. Whether they went in or not Sergei Boikov Jersey , we just kept giving them momentum and not allowing ourselves to gain it ourselves.”Donato’s wrister on a breakaway at 4:40 of the first period beat Lundqvist’s stick side to put Minnesota up 1-0. Zibanejad tied it 90 seconds later, catching Dubnyk out of position on a shot from behind the goal line that angled off the goaltender and into the net.Donato was credited with a redirect on Luke Kunin’s shot with just under 4 minutes left in the first to reclaim the lead.Staal made it 3-1 at 4:51 of the second after his attempted pass to Zach Parise hit off the outstretched Neal Pionk’s stick and into the net.The only downside for Minnesota came in the second period, when Jason Zucker had to be helped off the ice after a scary collision behind the New York net with Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei. Zucker went down when Skjei fell on his right leg — he didn’t put any weight on the leg as he was helped off the ice, but returned later in the period.Zucker wasn’t made available to reporters after the game.“I haven’t heard anything on not being able to play,” coach Bruce Boudreau said.Spurgeon’s power-play goal at 6:04 of the third gave him 13 for the season, the fourth-most single-season goals by a Wild defenseman. Brown added an empty-netter at 17:25.NOTES: Donato has 11 points in 12 games with the Wild. He also notched his fourth point in two games against the Rangers with Minnesota this season. … Zibanejad established a new career high with his 28th goal this season. He’s also the first Rangers center to score at least 28 goals since Eric Lindros in 2001-02.UP NEXTRangers: Host Detroit on Tuesday night.Wild: Host the New York Islanders on Sunday. BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Having already missed 14 games with a shoulder injury, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews wasn’t going to let a little fatigue prevent him from jumping into the play for one last rush.Rather than go to the bench with Kasperi Kapanen flying up the left wing, Matthews drove down the middle, received his teammate’s pass and snapped a shot over Buffalo Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark’s left shoulder to seal Toronto’s 4-3 win with three seconds on the clock in overtime Tuesday night.“Lucky to get it off with a little bit of time remaining,” said Matthews, who scored twice and added an assist to give him five goals and seven points in three games since returning to the lineup. “I’m starting to feel more and more like myself.”That’s bad news for the rest of the NHL, and good news for the Maple Leafs (20-8), who have won five straight and matched their best start to a season in 84 years. The only other time in took them just 28 games to reach 20 wins was when they opened the 1934-35 season at 20-6-2.“It can only help when you add a player like Auston back in the lineup,” Patrick Marleau said. “He’s definitely a game-changer.”Marleau scored with 5:13 remaining in regulation to force overtime. Jake Gardiner also scored and Mitchell Marner had an assist to give him 11 in five games. Frederik Andersen stopped 38 shots to win his fourth straight.Jack Eichel scored twice for Buffalo Youth Jake McCabe Jersey , which dropped to 0-2-2 since equaling the franchise record with a 10-game winning streak. Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist, and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen set up two for Buffalo.Ullmark stopped 26 shots.“It’s not easy right now, for sure. It’s pretty disappointing,” Reinhart said. “We’ve got to find a way to get back on the winning side of things and that starts Saturday.”He was referring to Buffalo getting three days off following a stretch of playing four games in six nights, including a 2-1 loss at Nashville on Monday.The Sabres showed plenty of jump in outshooting the Maple Leafs 11-3 midway through the first period. And they showed resolve in the third period, when Eichel scored twice in a 10-minute span to put the Sabres up 3-2 with 7:03 remaining.Buffalo was unable to hold the lead, though, as Marleau tied it 1:50 later when Morgan Rielly’s shot from the left point went wide. The puck caromed to Marleau, who came out from behind the net and stuffed it inside the right post.“Obviously, they get the extra point and it’s frustrating, but give us credit,” Eichel said, noting the Maple Leafs were off since a 5-3 win at Minnesota on Saturday. “They’re sitting here waiting for us. It’s not easy. And I thought we brought a lot of compete and effort.”After winning seven one-goal games during their 10-game streak, the Sabres have dropped four straight by one goal.The Maple Leafs, meanwhile Jason Pominville Jersey Kids , have scored four or more in each of their past five games, and 16 times overall this season.Aside from Matthews’ return, they’re also prepared to welcome back forward William Nylander after he and the Maple Leafs finally agreed to a contract Saturday.“Hopefully, he can do what Auston does and jump right in like he hasn’t missed a beat,” Marleau said of Nylander, a two-time 20-goal-scorer.Nylander remained in Toronto where he skated on his own as he continues conditioning. There remains no timetable for when he’ll play his first game.Coach Mike Babcock said the Maple Leafs’ impressive start is a reflection of the team’s talent.“We’ve got good young players and we think we’re going in the right direction,” Babcock said. “Now, we’ve still got to get a lot better to do what we want to do. So 20 wins is great. But we’ve got a lot of work to do.”NOTES: Though the Sabres are drawing larger crowds with each win, that didn’t drown out the “Go, Leafs, Go!” chants from Toronto fans who made the trip across the border. Before the game, Babcock commented on the Sabres’ improvement this season by saying: “Pretty soon, Leaf fans won’t be able to buy tickets here because Buffalo fans will have bought them already.” … Sabres RW Jason Pominville is day to day and missed his second game with an upper-body injury. … Sabres LW Conor Sheary returned after missing four games with an upper-body injury.UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday before opening a five-game road trip.Sabres: Off until hosting the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.