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.

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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.