Postgame: Wild extends road point streak to franchise-record 13 games

Big 3-2 shootout win tonight in the Big D for the Wild over the Stars.

For the fifth time in seventh games, the Wild, which was playing an outstanding road game for half the game, saw a two-goal lead disappear.

Jason Spezza pressured Ryan Suter into a giveaway and Tyler Seguin goal, and then Patrick Eaves tied the score at 2-2 in the final seconds of the second period on a 5-on-3.

But, the Wild ground out a big win thanks to a hard-fought third in which Devan Dubnyk was solid.

Call it a greasy win, says Chris Stewart, whose ninth career shootout goal was also his fifth career shootout deciding goal.

The details: Wild gained ground on Chicago, which lost to Tampa Bay. The Wild's now two points up for first in the conference and division with three fewer games played than the Hawks.

The Wild extended its road point streak to 13 goals (11-0-2), breaking its franchise record.

I don't buy officiating as an excuse in most cases, but this was one of the worst officiated games I've seen and frankly it's amazing the Wild didn't completely boil over.

It almost became comical.

One game after Bruce Boudreau criticized the zebras for not calling obvious penalties during a loss to Nashville, in the first period, referee Brian Pochmara watched Jordie Benn hook, cross-check, then hold Nino Niederreiter without a call. In the second, maybe because Antoine Roussel was just called for his second penalty – a blatant cross-check on Mikael Granlund after being penalized in the first period for his swinging slash to the back of Suter's left knee, Pochmara let Roussel hold Jason Zucker's stick, then rip it out of his hand and fling it against the wall nearly striking Pochmara.

Then, right before Pochmara called Jared Spurgeon for an interference penalty that became a 5-on-3 after Eric Staal took a tripping minor, referee Frederick L'Ecuyer was a bystander as Jamie Benn carried Zucker from the faceoff circles to the red line by his face. In the third period, late, Mikael Granlund was tacked by Jordie Benn … with Pochmara watching.

However, it did draw a power play it couldn't convert on with 1:52 left.

In the elevator, even supervisor Mick McGeough was displeased with that missed call and told GM Chuck Fletcher he would contact NHL officiating head honcho Stephan Walkom and address it.

Even though the Stars tied it at 2-2, captain Mikko Koivu said the intermission came at a much-needed time because the players needed to get off the ice and just chill out from the officiating and just regroup.

In overtime, there was a 3-on-0 after Charlie Coyle, who had another tough game and I'm certain is playing hurt from that collision behind the net with Steven Santini against New Jersey on the first game of that four-game homestand, slipped and fell. Boudreau comically said he turned away and didn't look.

Read his quote in my gamer.

But Cody Eakin missed the net.

"I knew (Lauri Korpikoski) was tired," Dubnyk said. "He'd been out there for quite a while, so I figured he probably wasn't going to lean on one. You just try to be as patient as possible. They got in pretty tight, so at that point you just try to get over and see what happens."

In the shootout, Eaves opened the scoring, but Jason Pominville, who scored for the third time in six games in the first, tied it with his 28th career shootout goal. In the fourth round, after Dubnyk denied Seguin and Patrick Sharp, Jamie Benn scored.

Boudreau was given a look on the bench from Stewart. The vet wanted a try.

"Bruce gave me a look back like, 'Not yet,'" Stewart said.

Boudreau explained, "I didn't want him to have to go where he had to tie it up. I wanted him to go win it. I knew I was saving Mikko because he has the experience and he wouldn't crack under the pressure."

"I'm just glad I could contribute and help the team win," Stewart said.

Quotes not used in the gamer:

Boudreau on the Suter gaffe: "You just say, 'Hey. Those things happen.' He has done a lot of good things for us this year. So we wanted to pick it up for him."

Boudreau on Pominville, who has 10 points in his past 10 games and six in his past four: "I thought this was his best game in awhile. His minutes were down a little bit the last few games bit he was still picking up points. But today he was pretty solid everywhere."

Pominville on playing well lately: "It's nice to get going, get playing, get on the power play, get some ice time. I like our line right now. It is definitely nice to get rewarded for the hard work. Unfortunately I didn't get rewarded early on. Now it's starting to go in so it's nice."

That's it for me. Please give the game notebook a read, too, because I wrote on the Wild's possible interest at some point in improving its center depth.

Russo-Souhan Show is at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at Hell's Kitchen. Be there, … please.