Minnesota Hockey News: Wild edged in shootout by Montreal

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MONTREAL - Montreal's David Desharnais scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Canadiens a 5-4 win over the Wild, spoiling Minnesota's comeback bid.

Montreal pulled out the win after Minnesota scored three goals in the final 3:53 to force extra time. Minnesota's Matt Kassian scored twice, while Devin Setoguchi lit the lamp with only nine seconds left for Minnesota to force the overtime. Dany Heatley also scored for the Wild in their second straight loss. Niklas Backstrom stopped 5-of-6 shots before leaving in the first period with an apparent leg injury. Josh Harding came on and made 19 saves.

The Wild are at Detroit tonight.

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The Minnesota Wild and forward Charlie Coyle have agree to a three-year entry level contract. The 19-year-old Coyle has been playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League after playing for Boston University for a time. He will finish the season for Saint John in the Quebec league. Coyle was a first-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and traded to the Wild in 2011 as part of the trade that sent Brent Burns to the Sharks.

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Dallas Stars forward Eric Nystrom is apparently going to be avoiding punishment for his hit on Kris Letang. Multiple reports say the NHL won't be disciplining Nystrom for the incident, which knocked the Pittsburgh defensemen out of Wednesday night's game. Nystrom is fourth on the team in goals with 16. Nystrom started the season with the Wild before being traded to the Stars.

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The long-awaited groundbreaking for the National Hockey Center renovation in St. Cloud is this afternoon (3 p.m.) at center ice on the main rink. The $30-million renovation will happen in two phases over the course of a couple years. Six-and-a-half-million dollars is coming from state bonding money. Besides enhancing the fan experience for SCSU hockey fans, the plans also include creating a facility that can host concerts and other events. Seating capacity will increase from 6,600 to more than eight-thousand.

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Here is the schedule of games in the WCHA Women's Hockey Final Face-Off in Duluth this weekend:

Friday - Minnesota-Duluth vs. Wisconsin, 4:30pm

Friday - Minnesota vs. North Dakota, 7:30pm

Saturday - Championship Game, 7pm

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Here are results from Thursday's semifinal games of women's hockey games in the MIAC Tournament, as well as the championship schedule:

Wednesday - Gustavus Adolphus 1, Bethel 0 (overtime final)

Wednesday - Concordia-Moorhead 4, St. Thomas 3 (final)

Saturday - Concordia-Moorhead at Gustavus Adolphus, 2pm

Tags: minnesota sports, proam, hockey, wild