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Zucker stays hot, nets OT winner as Wild top ‘Canes

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Jason Zucker scored his second goal of the game with 1:10 left in overtime, giving the Minnesota Wild a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

Minnesota had to kill off an overtime power play to set up the winner.

It was Minnesota’s first win in three overtime games this season and the Hurricanes first loss in four extra-period games. It was the third straight win for the Wild, which has also won three straight in the series.

Thomas Vanek scored the other Minnesota goal.

Andrej Nestrasil scored his first goal of the season for Carolina and Justin Faulk had the other.

Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk stopped 37 shots, while Carolina’s Cam Ward saved 18.

Faulk scored his sixth power-play goal of the season, ranking him first among NHL defensemen in that category.

The Hurricanes led 2-0 after a first period in which they outshot the visitors 19-5.

Faulk gave Carolina the lead on a power play at 4:26, beating Dubnyk glove side from the high slot with Eric Staal on the assist.

At 8:17, Nestrasil followed a Jay McClement rebound and scooped the puck over a prone Dubnyk’s skate to make it 2-0. The original call of goalie interference was overturned on video review.

Zucker cut the lead in half at 15:50 on a wrister from the left circle with Ryan Suter on the assist.

And the Wild tied the score at 9:41 of the second when Vanek buried a rebound of Mikael Granlund’s shot.

The Wild has won five of the last nine games against Carolina, but is 2-5-1 all-time in North Carolina.

NOTES: This was the opener of a five-game homestand for the Hurricanes and the first of the Wild’s four-game road trip. ... Carolina’s next game is at home on Saturday night against Philadelphia. ... Minnesota visits Dallas on Saturday night. ... C Brad Malone and D Michal Jordan were healthy scratches for the Hurricanes. ... D Marco Scandella, D Gustav Olofsson and G Niklas Backstrom were healthy scratches for the Wild. ... The teams’ only other meeting will be on March 19 in Minnesota.