*Photo from MPR News*
Instead of one win, how about two? Erik Brannstrom scored a goal, Josh Norris had the game winner, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Minnesota Wild with a 2-1 shootout victory on Saturday in Stockholm.
Ottawa picked up their 3rd straight win and second in two games in Stockholm by beating the Wild, improving to 8-7-0. It was a special day for Brannstrom and Anton Forsberg, with Brannstrom scoring in his home country and Forsberg winning in his home country.
Forsberg said after the game that "We're in a spot where we need to win every game now to get back on track and it was a good trip to get the group together. I think we've done it pretty well with having team dinners and stuff. The guys have had some fun and obviously with four points getting out of here, it couldn't have been better."
After a scoreless first period, Marco Rossi lit the lamp for the Wild in the second. He gave them a 1-0 lead after two periods on his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Brock Faber and Mats Zuccarello. Brannstrom tied the game 3:22 into the 3rd period for the Senators, assisted by Forsberg and Travis Hamonic.
Overtime went scoreless, leading to a shootout. Zuccarello and Tim Stutzle couldn't convert in the first round, neither could Kirill Kaprizov and Drake Batherson in the second. Joel Eriksson Ek was denied in the 3rd round, but that was when Norris scored, giving the Senators the win.
Norris said of the win that "I think D.J. said it before the game that it was going to be a tight one and we were going to win 2-1, so I guess he knew something that we didn't tonight but it was a tight game. There wasn't a ton of room out there. They play hard and Forsberg made a lot of good saves, and we got two points so it was a good win."
Getting the start for the Senators was Forsberg, who got the win to be the first Swedish born goalie to win a regular season game in Sweden. In the win, Forsberg stopped all but one of the 25 shots he faced, good for a .960 save percentage as his record improved to 3-3-0 in 6 games.
Starting for the Wild opposite Forsberg was Filip Gustavsson, another Sweden native. Gustavsson turned aside 30 out of the 31 shots on goal the Senators tested him with, getting the overtime loss as his record dropped to 2-4-2 in 9 starts.
Wild head coach Dean Evason said of Gustavsson's performance that "Gustavsson was real good. When he had to be, he was there. I agree, he looked very calm, wasn't out of position and most of the saves were smothered. He definitely looked more like himself for sure."
The Wild wrap up their Sweden trip by playing the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, with Marc-Andre Fleury starting in net. The Senators don't play again until Friday against the New York Islanders, with Joonas Korpisalo the projected starter.
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