ST. PAUL, Minn. — Hunter Haight didn’t have to wait long to get another crack at his first NHL goal … and the Minnesota Wild rookie made the do-over count.

After having a goal overturned the previous night at St. Louis, Haight scored for real in the Wild’s 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday at Grand Casino Arena, in their regular-season finale.

Haight broke a 1-1 in the second period, accepting a Nick Foligno pass, skating into a shooting lane and wiring the puck off the post and in behind Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal.

But he wasn’t the only rookie whose strides were on display.

Danila Yurov also capitalized, his second goal in as many games, and goalie Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves to conclude his first full NHL season 18-9-6.

Robby Fabbri netted his first goal with the Wild in the third period to give the Wild a 3-1 lead that held until the Ducks’ Mason McTavish tipped in his second goal of the game in the final minute with Dostal pulled for an extra attacker.

The Wild rested their key players, keeping Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber, Joel Eriksson Ek, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno out; captain Jared Spurgeon was also scratched, with Jonas Brodin taking his spot in the lineup.

The Wild finished 46-24-12 and with 104 points but were already locked into third place in the Central Division and a first-round playoff match against No. 2 Dallas.

Coach John Hynes is confident everyone who has been resting the last two games will be ready for Game 1.

How it happened

Anaheim is also playoff-bound, but the Ducks’ seeding wasn’t finalized and they played their go-tos.

At 10:27 of the first period, they capitalized on the power play, a shot by McTavish that slipped through the crook of Wallstedt’s arm.

But with 3:18 to go in the period, the Wild answered back when Dostal got a piece of a Yurov wrister but not enough, as the puck rolled behind him into the net. The goal was Yurov’s 12th in his first NHL season after leaving Russia to join the Wild.

Turning point

Haight electrified the crowd with his milestone goal 11:24 into the second, the 22-year-old beaming on the bench in the aftermath alongside Foligno and Marcus Johansson, who both assisted on the play.

It was a full-circle accomplishment for Haight, who was in the Wild’s opening-night lineup before spending most of the season in the minors.

Against St. Louis the previous night, Haight pushed the puck and goalie Joel Hofer’s pad into the net, and the goal was immediately called back.

The Wild considered challenging the goalie interference call, but Hynes said the Wild were right not to.

Anaheim upped the pressure in the third period, but the Wild pushed back when Fabbri’s shot barely crossed over the goal line with 6:57 to go.

After Wallstedt made a late unsuccessful attempt at the Ducks’ empty net, he had to scramble back into position to deny Cutter Gauthier when Gauthier pounced on a bounce of the boards to the middle.

But McTavish’s deflection with 46 seconds left made it a one-goal finish.

The Wild went 2 for 3 on the penalty kill and 0 for 1 on the power play.

Dostal totaled 17 saves, and the Wild went 23-10-8 at home and 23-14-4 on the road.

Key stat

This is the first season in franchise history the Wild have not been shut out.

Up next

The NHL has not announced the schedule for the Wild’s first-round series against Dallas, but the Stanley Cup playoffs begin Saturday.

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