Wild's Koivu deserves to celebrate in playoffs for a change

Sports aren't fair. Don't let any Little League coach tell you they are.

Cheaters prosper, winners of life's genetic lottery make the most money and in the all-too-real world Trent Dilfer wins more Super Bowls than Dan Marino, Jim Kelly and Fran Tarkenton combined.

Every once in a while, though, sports hint at equity, and that's what happened late Friday night in Dallas.

Mikko Koivu scored the game-tying goal for the Wild. Then, in overtime, he scored the game-winning goal to send the first-round Stanley Cup playoff with the Dallas Stars to Xcel Energy Center for Game 6 on Sunday.

You can't say it was only fair that Koivu scored the winner without presuming that no one else on the ice deserved the honor, and Jamie Benn might take issue with that.

But Koivu did earn and produce those goals, and did deliver when his team needed him, and did score them with franchise player Zach Parise out of the lineup, and did provide a reminder why the Wild chose Koivu to be the only permanent captain in team history.

Whether he was the Wild's franchise player or today, as a defensive-minded forward more often lauded for being responsible than productive, Koivu has always taken his leadership duties and his craft seriously. He just hasn't always produced goals.

His goal in Game 3 proved to be the winner, and on Friday he scored to send Game 5 to overtime and then ended it with a deflection of Ryan Suter's shot.

Then Koivu pumped his fists and leaped into Suter's arms. Even Koivu's famous stoicism couldn't survive that moment.

"As a player, you want to be in those moments," Koivu said Saturday. "That's why you play the game and when the team comes together and you get those feelings that's unique."

Parise earns much of his money in front of the net, on deflections and rebounds. Koivu has filled that role in the past three games, producing three goals from in close.

And in a locker room where the highest-paid players don't always show their faces, Koivu has patiently taken questions, usually finding a way to answer them with his favorite mantras about "process" and "team."

He has been captain since 2009. Has he found the job difficult?

"When things are going good it's not an easy thing to do, but it is easier," he said. "I think when the team is struggling and, if individually you're struggling, that's when the times are a little bit different or harder, and that's something that comes with the job. You've just got to be ready for that.

"I think that comes with every leader on the team. It's not just the captain, it's everyone."

That was a typical Koivu answer, deflecting a question about him toward the team.

Jordan Schroeder, who got a rare start in Game 5 and produced a goal, lauded Koivu's leadership. "He will get on you if you're not doing the right things," Schroeder said. "He's more likely to pull you aside than yell at you."

"Everyone dreams of that, in any sport," Koivu said. "But with more experience, you have to just try to do the right things, and in the end it doesn't matter who scores the goal — it's about winning."