Hockey

Eric Staal has been the ideal leader for the Minnesota Wild, continuing to produce no matter who he's skating with while coach Bruce Boudreau searches for the most effective combinations.

As Minnesota recovered from an early deficit against the San Jose Sharks, Wild coach Bruce Boudreau turned to assistant Bob Woods and told him to keep sending defenseman Jared Spurgeon out on the ice as much as possible.

The Gopher men's hockey team dropped a 5-2 Big Ten contest to Penn State on Saturday night in the regular-season finale.

The Minnesota Wild have been thriving lately on the road to keep pace in the Central Division. After smothering the Rangers 4-1, they completed a three-game sweep in the New York area.

Mat Robson’s career night wasn’t enough on Friday as the Gopher men's hockey team dropped this weekend’s Big Ten series opener to Penn State 5-1.

Minnesota Wild coach Bruce Boudreau wasn't patting himself on the back after putting Mike Reilly, Chris Stewart and backup goaltender Alex Stalock into the lineup against the New Jersey Devils.

Alex Ovechkin scored his league-leading 34th goal and had three assists,helping the Washington Capitals in a 5-2 win against the Wild on Thursday night.

Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild are getting plenty of practice in defending three-goal leads.

Clayton Keller scored Arizona's fourth straight goal at 3:55 of overtime to give the Coyotes a 4-3 comeback victory over the Minnesota Wild Thursday night.

Owatonna's girls' hockey team opened the Section 1AA playoffs with a 3-2 upset win over Rochester Mayo at Graham Arena Wednesday night. The sixth-seeded Huskies never trailed while beating the No. 3 seed Spartans. It was the fourth meeting between the teams this season and Owatonna's second win. In Mayo's two victories they scored late in regulation and won in overtime. The stage was set for a similar finish Wednesday.

Jason Zucker tied a career high with his 22nd goal and Devan Dubnyk made 35 saves to help the Minnesota Wild to a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Blues.

Owatonna was moments away from a second straight season sweep of Rochester Mayo Monday night at Graham Arena. Eighth-grade forward Maddox Fleming put an end to that celebration with a blast from the blue line to tie the score at 2-2 with eight seconds remaining in regulation. Neither team scored in overtime despite each having a power play and the game ended in a draw.

Jamie Benn had good company on the Dallas Stars' top line on Saturday night.

Eric Staal had two goals and an assist as the Minnesota Wild beat the Golden Knights 5-2 for their second straight win after the All-Star break.