The Ice Dogs Copper controlled the early pace and carried a lead into the third period, but the Wild erupted for four goals in the final frame to pull away for an 8–6 win Wednesday night.

Copper came out sharp and efficient. Steve Silver opened the scoring at 2:36 of the first on the power play, finishing a setup from Jake Toran and Anthony Amato, and the Dogs doubled the lead late in the period when Mason Teitelman scored at 14:34 off Mike Sanchez and AJ Nisbet.

The second period started even better. Casey Forte made it 3–0 at 1:46, converting a feed from Silver, and after the Wild took a slashing minor at 3:39, Copper cashed in again—Nisbet buried a power-play marker at 4:43 (Teitelman, Amato) to stretch the margin to four.

That’s when the game flipped into a track meet. The Wild began chipping away with Dan Hicks scoring at 6:01, then Steven Kolodziej at 9:40. Forte answered with his second of the night at 12:07 to keep Copper in front, but the Wild closed the period with two more from Hicks (at 13:27 and 14:40) to tighten it into a one-goal game heading to the third.

Copper still held the edge, but the Wild finished with the stronger push. Kolodziej tied it at 1:27 of the third, then Kevin Greenman put the Wild ahead at 5:18. Hicks struck again at 11:15 to widen the gap, and after Kolodziej took a delay of game penalty at 13:20, the Dogs made it interesting on the power play—Toran scored at 13:46 from Amato to pull within one. The Wild answered immediately, though, with Hicks completing his huge night at 14:43 to close out the 8–6 final into the empty net.