(Sports Network) - Never before had Devin Setoguchi had to wait so long to get
his first goal of the season.
The Minnesota Wild winger hopes it was the first of many more to come and
he'll look to light the lamp again on Monday evening in a road contest with
the Calgary Flames.
The 26-year-old Setoguchi notched three straight 20-goal seasons with the San
Jose Sharks, including a career-high 31 in 2008-09, before getting dealt to
the Wild on June 24, 2011 in a trade that sent defenseman Brent Burns to the
Sharks.
Setoguchi slipped to 19 goals in 69 games with the Wild last season and was
held without a goal for the first 10 games of this campaign. He finally got on
the board on Saturday, netting the game-winner with 39 seconds left in
overtime of a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators.
The former first-round pick scored on the power play after Nashville's Paul
Gaustad took a controversial delay of game penalty in the extra frame after
the referees ruled he used his hand to win a face off. Setoguchi ripped home a
one-time feed from Mikko Koivu as the Wild snapped a three-game slide.
"We knew it was going to be tough," Setoguchi said of playing the Predators.
"Luckily we got that call in overtime."
Cal Clutterbuck scored his second goal of the season, Ryan Suter assisted on
both tallies and Niklas Backstrom made 25 saves for Minnesota, which won for
the third time in its last nine games.
The Flames, meanwhile, play the first of three straight at home after wrapping
a three-game swing with Saturday's 5-1 setback in Vancouver. Calgary had won
the first two on the trip and broke a scoreless game on Lee Stempniak's goal
with 1:42 left in the first period before the Canucks ripped off five
unanswered goals, three of those coming in the second.
With starter Miikka Kiprusoff out with a sprained knee, Leland Irving made his
second straight start and turned aside 26-of-31 shots faced. He still earned
praise afterwards from head coach Bob Hartley despite yielding five goals.
"Leland Irving kept us in the game. Without him, it would have been much worse
than this," Hartley said. "We played a great first period and then second and
third period, the bottom line is they outworked us. They wanted it way more
than us."
In addition to Kiprusoff, Mikael Backlund (knee) and Michael Cammalleri (hip
flexor) missed the game due to injury.
The Flames won four of six meetings with the Wild last season, but Minnesota
has won six of its past nine in Calgary.
The Sports Network