Upon learning of his new wing man on the Wild's fourth line, center Eric Fehr told Nino Niederreiter he had to dump pucks in and retrieve them — the usual style for a team's last trio.
But the change of scenery ended up helping Niederreiter rediscover his offensive flair, as he put the Wild's 4-2 rally over the Jets on Friday at Xcel Energy Center in motion by scoring on a shot off the rush and setting up the game-tying goal.
"He was hard on pucks and when you have a guy like that that can come across the blue line and score like that, it always helps," Fehr said.
This was the type of reply coach Bruce Boudreau was envisioning when he slotted Niederreiter next to Fehr and winger J.T. Brown. He wanted Niederreiter to succeed and thought this assignment would alleviate pressure while also boosting a unit that could use a lift.
And that's exactly what happened.
"Obviously things haven't been going as well as I've been hoping for," Niederreiter said. "Chance to go out there and get something done, so that definitely felt good."
Niederreiter's goal was his first at even strength since March 24, a span of 35 games that included the playoffs. He parlayed that momentum in the third period into Fehr's tally, shuffling the puck toward the net for Fehr to score off a redirect.
"He got the goal, and you could almost see a difference in him from that moment on — the proverbial monkey off your back," Boudreau said.
