Miettinen Scores In OT, Wild Beats Ducks 2-1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Antti Miettinen scored at 3:36 of overtime and Niklas Backstrom made 27 saves Wednesday night, lifting the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

Martin Havlat also added a goal for the Wild, who have won five of their last seven games.

Teemu Selanne scored for the Ducks, who also lost 2-1 on Tuesday night at Dallas. Backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped 25 shots for Anaheim.

Miettinen scored off a rebound. Wild rookie Marco Scandella carried the puck up the ice and made the save shot. McElhinney made an initial save on Miettinen as well, but the rebound bounced off of Miettinen's chest and into the net.

The play was reviewed, but the goal stood.

Both teams had scoring chances in the final minutes of regulation because Backstrom and McElhinney didn't control rebounds as well as they could have.

Wild forward Andrew Brunette had a good chance with a little more than two minutes to play. He had the puck in front of the net but McElhinney knocked it away with his stick at the last moment.

Anaheim controlled much of the final period, outshooting the Wild 16-2 in the third.

After a scoreless first period, Selenne's power-play goal at 4:56 of the second gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead. Corey Perry made a quick pass across the slot that Selenne was able to knock in before Backstrom could slide to the other side of the net.

Havlat tied the game at 1 less than two minutes later. While below the goal line, Havlat backhanded the puck at the net. The puck sneaked between the post and McElhinney's skate for Havlat's second goal of the season and his eighth point in the past seven games.

NOTES: Cal Clutterbuck, Minnesota's leading scorer, returned to action after leaving Sunday's victory at Tampa Bay early with an upper body injury. ... Minnesota defenseman Brent Burns did not play as he was serving the second game of his two-game suspension for careless use of his stick in last week's game at Florida. He is eligible to return for Friday's game at Detroit. ... Brothers Sako and Mikko Koivu played against each other for the eighth time in their careers.

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