Wild find offense in win over Penguins
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Charlie Coyle scored twice and Zach Parise added his second goal in as many games as the Minnesota Wild broke out of an offensive slump with a 6-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
Minnesota had scored 17 goals in its 10 previous games. Coyle notched both of his goals during a three-goal first period.
Nino Niederreiter scored two goals and Mikael Granlund also scored for Minnesota (11-7-2), which won back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 27 and 29. Devan Dubnyk made 34 saves in goal for the Wild.
Phil Kessel scored his sixth goal of the season and Bryan Rust added his third for Pittsburgh (12-6-3), which has one win in its past three games. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 for the Penguins.
Minnesota tied a season high with six goals, its most since the third game of the season at home against Los Angeles. The Wild had 36 shots after setting a season high with 44 in a win against Pittsburgh on Nov. 10.
Coyle scored just 40 seconds in as Minnesota pressured Fleury, who fell to 2-7-0 in his career against the Wild. Fleury has allowed 30 goals in the nine games.
Brodin scored on the power play with a big shot from the point. Before tallying a power-play goal on Wednesday, Brodin hadn't scored on the man advantage since Dec. 5, 2013.
The Wild scored two power-play goals for the first time this season when Parise scored in the second period. Minnesota has six power-play goals in the last four games, it's longest streak of the season.
Kessel finally solved Dubnyk with a quick shot after a cross-ice pass from Evgeni Malkin, but Coyle answered back with his second goal of the game and team-leading seventh of the season with just 22 seconds left in the first period.
NOTES: Penguins RW Patric Hornqvist missed his fifth straight game with a concussion. LW Tom Sestito and D Steve Oleksy were the team's other scratches on Friday. ... Minnesota scratched D Nate Prosser. ... The Wild have played on the day after Thanksgiving in every year of the team's existence. Minnesota is 8-5-0-1 in those games, with all but one coming on home ice. The Wild have lost three straight games on Black Friday. ... Pittsburgh leads the NHL with 12 points on the road since Oct. 29, going 5-1-2 over that span. ... Penguins rookie F Jake Guentzel played this third career game, this time in the arena he once played in while in high school in Minnesota. ... The Wild begin a five-game road trip on Saturday at St. Louis. ... Pittsburgh also plays a back-to-back, returning home on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils.