Walz Leads the Wild Past Red Wings, 3-2

Wes Walz had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota Wild beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2, Thursday night at Detroit.

“They bend, but they don’t break,” Red Wing Darren McCarty said.

Minnesota, unbeaten in four games, tied Dallas atop the Western Conference with 39 points. The Red Wings, fourth in the West with 37 points, had a five-game unbeaten streak end.

The Wild scored twice in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. “We, as a team believe we can beat anybody. That’s how we play,” Wild goalie Dwayne Roloson said.

Columbus 4, New Jersey 2 -- Andrew Cassels had a goal and an assist, and Marc Denis stopped 40 shots at Columbus, Ohio.

The goal gave Columbus 31 power-play goals this season. Last season, the Blue Jackets didn’t pick up their 31st goal with a man advantage until Jan. 30.

San Jose 5, Pittsburgh 2 -- Mike Ricci tipped Bryan Marchment’s slap shot into the net with four minutes left as the Sharks overcame two goals by Mario Lemieux at San Jose.

Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 2 -- Brad Richards had three points, including an assist on Martin St. Louis’ 17th goal with 5:52 remaining in the third period at Montreal.

Philadelphia 2, Toronto 1 -- Simon Gagne and Eric Desjardins scored 1:02 apart midway through the third period at Philadelphia.

Ottawa 5, Boston 2 -- Todd White scored a short-handed goal and assisted on another score that keyed Ottawa’s four-goal second period at Boston.

The Bruins lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

Nashville 2, St. Louis 2 -- Blues goaltender Brent Johnson, in his first start of the season, turned back 37 shots at Nashville.

Carolina 4, Calgary 3 -- Ron Francis scored two goals, including the tiebreaking tally at 12:42 of the third period at Calgary, and the Hurricanes ended a four-game losing streak.

*

The New York Rangers, who learned Thursday that goalie Mike Richter is out for the season because of a concussion, traded forward Rem Murray, defenseman Tomas Kloucek and the rights to defenseman Marek Zidlicky to Nashville for goalie Mike Dunham.