SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Wild broke out in a big way against the Florida Panthers.
Wes Walz and Richard Park each had a goal and an assist as the Wild halted a five-game winless streak with a 4-3 victory over the Panthers.
Minnesota managed only nine goals in its winless streak but scored three times in the second period to take control. Park started the burst with his second goal of the season to cut the deficit to 2-1 with just over 15 minutes remaining.
"It was great to get Park's goal. Everyone on the team relaxed after that," Wild winger Antti Laaksonen said. "I think the key was that we kept sticking to our system."
Walz made a nice feed to his right to Laaksonen, who beat goaltender Roberto Luongo to tie the game with 11:42 left in the period.
The Wild added a power-play goal later in the period when Alexander Daigle poked home a rebound off a wrister by Park.
An error by Luongo led to Minnesota's final goal. Andrew Brunette intercepted a poor clearing attempt by Luongo and fed Walz, who beat the sliding netminder for a 4-2 advantage with just over seven minutes to go.
"I'm sure he'd want that one back as well," Florida coach Mike Keenan said. "But the guy has played so hard and so well for us. Even that poor exchange was a lack of coverage for us."
Wild goaltender Dwayne Roloson made 30 saves for his first victory of the season.
"What I really love about the guys is that after they scored, they didn't give a lot of chances," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "They came back and played strong and this is what we have to do - play strong."
Luongo stopped 36 shots but allowed more than two goals for the first time this year.
The second period proved to be Florida's undoing as it was whistled for six penalties and allowed Minnesota to pepper Luongo with 20 shots. Luongo had seen an average of over 35 shots in his previous five games.
"We started taking penalties and Minnesota followed with a couple of goals after that," Panthers center Olli Jokinen said. "We had to protect the two-goal lead, we had to just play defense and get the puck out of our zone. The way we lost tonight, we can't let that happen."
Darcy Hordichuk's first goal of the season with just under two minutes left cut the deficit to 4-3. Roloson made a stop on Nathan in close just 10 seconds later.
Any hopes for a comeback were halted when Viktor Kozlov was whistled for a phantom hooking call with 61 seconds to go.
"I'll let the NHL answer it, the director of officiating answer the question on that particular case," Keenan said.
Roloson's skate save on Jokinen's wrister with seven seconds left sealed the victory.
Rookie Nathan Horton recorded his first NHL point on Florida's first goal as Ivan Novoseltsov scored for a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Walz was penalized for slashing early in the second period and Jokinen scored for the second straight game for a 2-0 advantage.
After Park's goal shifted the momentum, the Panthers' frequent trips to the penalty box helped keep it in Minnesota's favor. Branislav Mezei was called for a double-minor high-sticking violation that contributed to a two-man advantage for the Wild, who finally capitalized on Daigle's go-ahead goal.
"I think with this being our first win on the road, that's how we should play," Laaksonen said. "We need to play a solid 60 minutes and be patient with our system."
Florida went on the power play when Minnesota defenseman Filip Kuba was charged with tripping late in the second period. But Walz came up with a steal and set up Laaksonen for a shorthanded chance that forced Mike Van Ryn into a hooking call, ending the power play.
Minnesota went 1-for-11 with the man advantage.
