The Minnesota Wild's scoring woes appear to be a thing of the past as John Torchetti's club matched a season-high in goals in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
The two points draw the Wild even with the Avalanche at 68 points, but with a game in hand, Minnesota holds the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
Western Conference Wild Card Standings
| Rnk | Team | GP | W | L | O | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nashville | 64 | 32 | 21 | 11 | 75 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 64 | 29 | 25 | 10 | 68 |
| 3 | Colorado | 65 | 32 | 29 | 4 | 68 |
It was just over a month ago when the Wild scored six goals over a six-game period from Jan. 9-20. The team has now scored at least five goals in five of nine games since replacing head coach Mike Yeo with Torchetti on Feb. 13.
A big part of their recent success has been the production from their third line of Erik Haula, Jason Pominville, and Nino Niederreiter. The trio combined for seven points against the Avalanche, with all three scoring breakaway goals in the first period, ending the night of Avalanche starter Semyon Varlamov.
"They want to play on both sides of the puck," Torchetti said of the line, per Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "I think the whole team can learn from that.
"We talk a lot, on the bench, to support each other," Niederreiter added. The winger would score on an empty net in the third to help him and Pominville finish with three-point nights.
"This game was one I think everyone had marked down and wanted to win," Pominville said postgame. "And everyone responded."
Haula: "It was a great win and now we're looking forward to the next one." #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 2, 2016
Less than a minute before Niederreiter's empty-netter, Charlie Coyle scored his team-leading 21st of the year.
The Wild now have a great chance to pick up another four points with a quick two-game road trip in the East as they'll visit the league-worst Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday before a Saturday visit with the Buffalo Sabres.
