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Date of game: 1/20/2013
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Recap: Minnesota vs. Dallas
St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Zach Parise scored the lone goal of the contest and Josh Harding stopped all 24 shots he faced as the Minnesota Wild edged the Dallas Stars, 1-0, at Xcel Energy Center.
Harding recorded his seventh career shutout for the Wild, who were coming off a season-opening 4-2 win over Colorado on Saturday.
It stole the spotlight from Christopher Nilstorp, who made 31 saves in his first NHL game for the Stars, who won 4-3 in Phoenix less than 24 hours prior.
"I thought he was fantastic," said Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan. "I thought he was very calm in the net tonight. He did a great job."
Parise netted his first with the Wild at the 8:11 mark of the first period, a blistering one-timer from a Pierre-Marc Bouchard pass during a 4-on-3 advantage.
Harding made eight saves in the first period, 11 in the second and five in the third to maintain his clean sheet. His 42nd career victory was especially sweet as it was his first since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the offseason.
"It's been a tough couple months here and this made it all worth it," Harding admitted.
Nilstorp, a 28-year-old Swede, stopped the other 10 pucks in the opening 20 minutes, 10 in the middle stanza and 11 in the final period.
Any hope of a Dallas comeback was thwarted when defenseman Trevor Daley was sent off for high sticking with 2:01 to play. Nilstorp was pulled for an extra skater with over a minute to play, but the hosts had the better chances near the open cage.
Game NotesMinnesota's last shutout of Dallas was in the club's first-ever meeting back
on Dec. 17, 2000, a 6-0 Wild triumph ... Dallas won three of the four meetings
with Minnesota last season and 12 of 16 from 2008-12 ... The last time the
Stars were blanked in their road opener was Oct. 7, 2001 at Carolina (3-0).
