Lettieri breaks tie in 3rd, Wild end Senators' winning streak at 5

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Vinni Lettieri scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the Minnesota Wild, who ended the Ottawa Senators' five-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.

Lettieri gave the Wild a 3-2 lead at 13:04 with a backhand at the top of the crease after Mason Shaw won the puck in the offensive zone along the right-side boards.

“I knew where I was putting it, but I was very lucky that it got to me the way it did,” Lettieri said. “I didn’t really have too much time, just tried to beat the goalie quick underneath his blocker.”

Shaw and Matt Boldy also scored for the Wild (36-29-9), who have won two of three and moved within six points of the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves.

“The big thing is we came out with the two points,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “We got some depth scoring. Lots of things to clean up, but to find a way to win was obviously the most important thing here coming down the stretch.”

Drake Batherson and Jakob Chychrun each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (33-37-4), who hadn’t lost since March 21 (5-2 to the St. Louis Blues). Joonas Korpisalo made 17 saves.

“When you look at the goals they got, we beat ourselves,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We gave them the goals and they didn’t give much either, both our goals were on the power play. I didn’t think we got on the inside, we didn’t drive the net and with a goaltender like Fleury, you got to get in front of him. He sees the puck, he’s a good netminder, so you got to have more traffic and got to have better opportunities.”

Shaw scored his first goal of the season to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 12:32 of the first period, putting in a cross-ice pass from Zach Bogosian on the rush.

Shaw, who sustained a season-ending ACL injury on April 1, 2023, has played 13 games this season after making his return on March 2.

“I mean, for it to be what, 366 (days) today? That one felt good, and I’m in a lot better spirits this time than I was a year ago today,” Shaw said. “Just really happy. Obviously, getting a win makes everything feel better and something I look back on really proud of what it took to get to this point.”

Boldy pushed it to 2-0 just 49 seconds into the second period with a snap shot in the slot off a centering pass from Kirill Kaprizov.

Batherson cut it to 2-1 at 7:43 on a power play, scoring with a snap shot below the left face-off circle off a cross-crease pass from Brady Tkachuk.

Chychrun tied it 2-2 with another power-play goal at 2:42 of the third period. Tim Stutzle sent a pass below the goal line to Batherson, who found Chychrun with a touch pass for a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle.

“They got some experienced [defensemen] back there who make a living boxing guys out,” Batherson said. “It was tough. When Fleury sees the puck, he’s going to make the save most of the time.”

NOTES: Senators forward Angus Crookshank left during the first period with a lower-body injury. He was still being evaluated after the game and no update was provided. … Fleury became the second active goaltender to record at least 50 wins with three different teams (Minnesota, Vegas Golden Knights, Pittsburgh Penguins), joining Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks).