Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 5, Panthers 1

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Thursday night:

1. The Wild maintained an impressive bit of history.
The Panthers are one of just two teams in the NHL (Vegas) to have never won a game in regulation at Xcel Energy Center. They tied here once. They also won once in a shootout.
But in the nearly two decades the Wild and Panthers have been in the same League, Florida has never won here in regulation.
That continued on Thursday, as a pair of second-period goals by the Wild broke a 1-1 tie, and Minnesota ran its all-time record at home against the Panthers to 10-0-2.
2. Nino Niederreiter goal streak is officially a streak.
If a streak doesn't officially exist until it hits number three, Niederreiter's stretch of consecutive games with a goal has become a three-game streak.
After tallying a third-period goal in Edmonton last Friday and securing pretty tip-in in the win over Montreal on Tuesday, Niederreiter doubled his pleasure and doubled his fun with a two-goal night versus the Panthers.

After Florida took the lead 2:20 into the game, the Wild woke from its slumber late in the first period, evening things up on Niederreiter's one-timer from Ryan Suter that bounced off the right post and past goaltender James Reimer.
With the game still tied in the second, the Niederreiter-Suter connection was successful once again. This time it was a Suter blast that Niederreiter was able to tip past Reimer, giving Minnesota its first lead -- and one it wouldn't surrender the rest of the way.

Four of Niederreiter's seven goals this season have now come in the past three games as the Swiss winger could be heating up just in time for the Wild as it makes its pre-holiday break push.
3. Eric Staal's job was easy. At least on his second-period goal it was.
They say scoring goals is the toughest thing to do in the NHL, and while that may be true, it certainly wasn't on Staal's 12th of the season 15:29 into the second period.
After Staal jumped over the boards for his shift, he gained control of the puck above the left circle, unleashing a wicked slap shot that missed the net by several feet. The puck bounced off the end wall and appeared ready to leave the zone before defenseman Jared Spurgeon dove to keep it in the offensive zone.

After getting back to his feet, Spurgeon played a quick game of catch with Suter at the point, then fed Mikael Granlund along the right-wing half wall.
Granlund, a lefty shot, danced along the wall then fed the front of the net with an unbelievable backhand pass, fitting it into a tight spot for the easy finish by Staal standing backdoor. The point was Granlund's 300th in the NHL.