Wild Blank Stars 1-0
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Zach Parise scored his first goal with the Wild and Josh Harding stopped all 24 shots he faced in his first start since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Minnesota beat the Dallas Stars 1-0 on Sunday.
Parise notched his third point with the Wild a night after getting two assists in Minnesota's season-opening win against Colorado.
Parise's first goal of the season came at 8:11 of the first period just as a 4-on-3 advantage for the Wild expired.
He one-timed a pass from Pierre-Marc Bouchard past Cristopher Nilstorp from the slot.
Nilstorp, who signed with the Stars in June after playing the previous four seasons in the Swedish Elite League, stopped 31 shots in his first career NHL start for Dallas.
Each team was coming off a four-goal performance the night before, but struggled to find any sort of an offensive flow.
The Stars were 0 for 4 on the power play and never found a rhythm against the Wild's defense and Harding, who earned his seventh career shutout.
Harding became one of Minnesota's feel-good stories last fall when the team announced his intentions to manage his illness and continue playing.
Earlier in the summer, he passed on the chance to leave and instead re-signed with the Wild to play behind Niklas Backstrom again.
Notes: Stars captain Brenden Morrow left during the first period after taking a puck to the face, but returned for the second. ... Harding's last shutout came against Vancouver last March 19. ... Parise has six goals and seven assists in 10 career games against the Stars, the organization for which his father, J.P. Parise, played and coached.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
