Zuccarello, Staal spark Wild past Red Wings

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Mats Zuccarello and Eric Staal each had a goal and an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 4-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday.

Matt Dumba had two assists for Minnesota (23-21-6), which has won three of its past four games. Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves.
"I wasn't very happy after the first period," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "They put 12 minutes together and got the lead and sort of held on. I think we went about 20 minutes without a shot. You can't do that too often and win."
WATCH: [All Red Wings vs. Wild highlights]
Filip Zadina scored two goals for Detroit (12-35-4), which hasn't won in six straight games (0-5-1) and has been outscored 29-10 over that stretch. Jimmy Howard made 29 saves.
It was the last game for each team before the All-Star break.

The Red Wings, who are 3-13-1 in their past 17 games and 5-23-3 in their past 31, held a 2-1 lead after the first period but were outshot 15-5 in the second, when the Wild scored three goals.
"I didn't have the concern [about our performance heading into the break] because I can't imagine, I can't fathom how that could be possible with where we're at and the number of games that we've won," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "How do you let any game slip away at all? How do you not make sure you're ready to go? But that wasn't the case."
Zuccarello tied the game when he scored on his own rebound at 1:12 of the second period to make it 2-2.
Jason Zucker then broke the tie 1:07 later with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle to give the Wild a 3-2 lead at 2:19.

"I think we knew that this is a team that we can beat if we play our best," Zuccarello said. "In the first we weren't quite there, but in the second we stepped it up and I think that in the third it's just make sure you get those two points."
Staal scored on a rebound after Howard couldn't cover the puck in the crease at 11:39 of the second period for the 4-2 final.
"You always want to extend [the lead] even further," Staal said. "I thought that even in the third you could make it five [goals] and really put the nail in the coffin, but we still played a relatively smart game there in the third period. When [Dubnyk] had to make a couple saves, he did. We were just happy to get the two points in the end."

Zadina gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead when his pass down low deflected off Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek's stick at 3:08 of the first period.
Jordan Greenway tied it 1:20 later to make it 1-1 at 4:28.
Zadina scored his second of the game on the power play with a slap shot from the blue line that deflected off Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 16:39 of the first period.
"I thought we had some guys who weren't ready to play at the start of the game," Blashill said. "It was kind of a little bit of fool's gold in the first; some guys were going, some guys just weren't ready to go. It catches up to you as the game goes along and it caught up to us."

They said it

"It won't feel good right now; it would've felt a lot better with a good road trip or a win at the end of it. But we can take out of it [some] rest; we've got a lot of guys banged up, little things or big things, [so] we're going to take that. I think just getting away and thinking about what we're in it for, and I believe in my heart that we're it for each other. I know the guys in this room think that as well, so I think the last half we've got to stick together. We've got to work for each other. Let's hope we're at the worst of it and it gets better here soon." -- Red Wings center Dylan Larkin
"I just said this game meant nothing to Detroit. But it means the world to us. That was the big thing, that this game was so important to us. Taking nothing away from Detroit, but where they are positioned in the standings, it didn't really mean anything other than pride for them." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau on his message after the first period

Need to know

Howard is 0-14-2 in his past 16 starts. … It was the 15th time this season the Wild scored at least three goals in a period. … Wild forward Zach Parise extended his point streak to five games (five goals, one assist).

What's next

Red Wings: At the New York Rangers on Jan. 31 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG, FS-D+, NHL.TV)
Wild: Host the Boston Bruins on Feb. 1 (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, NESN, NHL.TV)