Wild notes: Wild wins final preseason tuneup in overtime

Because of the fireworks that took place in Thursday's exhibition game at St. Louis, Mike Yeo pulled an audible in Saturday's rematch, calling up a minor league bruiser, sitting a few roster shoo-ins and giving defenseman Matt Dumba another chance to make an impression.

Dumba, 20, wasn't supposed to play. He found out 90 minutes before the puck-drop he would. And he made the most of it with a goal, an assist, three shots and twice nearly scoring in overtime before captain Mikko Koivu did to deliver a 5-4 preseason finale victory.

Afterward, Yeo said if Dumba wasn't on Thursday's opening-night roster, "We're going to have to find some creative reasons."

Dumba tied for second on the Wild in the preseason with five points, including a team-high four power-play assists. That's assists on four of the Wild's seven preseason goals. Remember, the Wild's plan to improve on last year's 16th-ranked power play and 24th-ranked offense.

"[His game], for sure it's not perfect," Yeo said. "There's some areas defensively that we know he can still improve. Sometimes he has a tendency to go for the home run when you just have to maybe hit a single.

"But he does some things that are special. We've talked about how we want to increase our offense from the back end, and he's showing us that he can probably help."

Fellow rookie defenseman Christian Folin, 23, also had another strong game.

"Both those guys have had very strong camps," Yeo said. "It's hard for me to say they had a bad game, let alone a bad period. That's what you want. Those guys have made things difficult on us."

Final cuts may come Monday. There is room for both to make the 23-man roster if the Wild reassigns one of forwards Cody Almond or Stephane Veilleux, defenseman Nate Prosser or defenseman/right wing Stu Bickel. If Folin and Dumba both make the team, veteran Keith Ballard may start as the seventh defenseman.

In Saturday's game, the Wild recalled bruiser Joel Rechlicz and dressed Veilleux and Almond, both originally scheduled to be scratched. Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker, Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon got the game off.

Afterward, Yeo indicated Zucker will make the team.

Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula and Thomas Vanek also scored Saturday. Jason Pominville, who set up Koivu's winner for one of three assists, led the Wild with eight points in the preseason. Granlund, Dumba and Zach Parise each had five points.

Darcy Kuemper gave up four goals on 23 shots. The Wild finished 3-2-1 in the preseason.

Coyle at center

Yeo is "definitely" considering starting the season with Coyle at center. He has bounced back and forth between center and wing all camp.

"We know there is chemistry between Zuck and Charlie, and we've seen that when Charlie's in the middle," Yeo said.

"I've played enough both positions that I'm pretty comfortable where they tell me to go," Coyle said. "It should be a smooth transition."

Playing for spots

Bickel assisted on Haula's goal and had a solid game. Bickel, who had three preseason fights, is valued by Yeo, and not just for his versatility to play two positions.

"He brings an element that we're really lacking, to be honest with you," Yeo said. "We've got skill in the lineup and we do have some size, but we don't have a bunch of guys that bring the physical presence that he brings.

"You never want to — so to speak — be caught with your pants down. We've got some tough teams in our conference. It's not our game, and we have to make sure we're not caught up in other people's games, but at the same time you've got to make sure that you're protecting your guys, too. That's an element that he's shown that he's willing to bring, and that's an element that I know that our players very much respect."

Etc.

• Right wing Justin Fontaine (lower body) skated on his own Saturday.

• Forwards Brett Sutter and Curt Gogol cleared waivers Saturday and were assigned to AHL Iowa.

• Forward Kurtis Gabriel was recalled but didn't play.