Wild picked up some much needed secondary scoring in Win over Ottawa

ST. PAUL - The Wild haven't gotten any secondary scoring at all this year it feels like. But in last night's game Minnesota's fourth line got the first goal and the last goal in the 3-2 win.

“It’s critical. We haven’t had a lot of secondary scoring all year long," Wild head coach John Hynes said. "I think that’s probably attributed to some of the situations that we’re in now. We’ve been pretty top heavy as far as the goal scoring has gone and the point production and you can see on a night like tonight where those guys, I mean we get one, but there’s not a lot going on in the game. 

"That’s how you win games is you gotta have a team that can compete in all areas but obviously tonight the biggest difference was the secondary scoring.”

Mason Shaw, who has had a long journey to get back to this moment, got the Wild on the board in the first period. Zach Bogosian entered the zone with speed found Shaw streaking in on the left side before the 25-year-old put home his first goal of the year. 

"He's usually pretty talkative out there," Bogosian said on if Shaw was yelling for him. "Honestly I don't quite remember but I do remember plenty of times throughout the last few games where I can hear Shawzy calling for it so it's good. You got to communicate out there and I'm sure he did."

It looked like the Wild were going to blow another third period lead but that was until Vinni Lettieri gave the Wild the lead in the third period with about seven minutes remaining. 

“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.”

Lettieri picked up a loose puck in the slot after a good play along the boards by Shaw before it bounced onto the stick of Lettieri who made no mistake. 

Coming into this game, the Wild had scored only three goals since March 3rd from their bottom-six forwards and five since January 25th. This does not include Pat Maroon, Connor Dewar, or Brandon Duhaime as they all aren't on the Wild anymore. 

Freddy Gaudreau hasn't scored since March 3rd, Marcus Foligno has two goals from January 25th until now, and Jake Lucchini has two goals since February 7th. Adam Beckman and Marat Khusnutdinov have scored zero goals this season, Lettieri last scored on December 18th, and Mason Shaw picked up his first goal of the year last night. 

“Yeah, and we’ve gotten a couple of goals called off, too, in the past," Lettieri said on his line and depth scoring. "Obviously, that hurts, but we take our chances when they come, and tonight we capitalized on them.”

Sure, Marcus Johansson, Ryan Hartman, and Marco Rossi might've scored during that three month stretch when they were playing on the third line but all three of them have spent pretty much all season in the top six. 

"I mean, that's how you win this league," Bogosian said on secondary scoring. "It can't be one or two lines scoring it's got to be up and down the lineup and, you know, see those guys get rewarded was nice. They've been working hard. It's not always the easiest role playing on the third or fourth line. It's hard work and they've been putting the work in and it's nice to see them all get rewarded."

Getting two goals from the bottom-six was the factor for the Wild last night and if they want to continue to have success, that will have to be a common theme. 

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