Game recap
Star Tribune's three stars
1. Niklas Backstrom, Wild: Made 27 of his 39 saves in the first two periods for his third consecutive win.
2. Justin Fontaine, Wild: Became first Wild rookie and ninth Wild player to record a hat trick.
3. Kyle Brodziak, Wild: Winning goal and assist for his first two-point game of the season.
By the numbers
2 Wild hat tricks (Fontaine and Ryan Suter) in five days after none in previous 1,449 (Guillaume Latendresse did it then).
6 Assists in the past seven games for Matt Cooke (two Thursday).
7 Points in the past six games for Nino Niederreiter (two assists Thursday).
MICHAEL RUSSO
