Takeaways: Kirill Kaprizov’s OT game-winner lifts Wild over Golden Knights

Goals trickling in for the Wild would be a bigger issue if they weren’t giving up so few.

But minimum production keeps yielding maximum payoff.

The Golden Knights were the latest to fall into the Wild’s less-is-more trap, with the Wild eking by Vegas 3-2 in overtime Sunday night at Grand Casino Arena to sweep their weekend back-to-back.

Overall, the Wild have won four of their last five games, and their 6-1-1 run since the start of November is tied for first in the NHL.

“We found some consistency and some reliability in how we want to be able to play,” coach John Hynes said, “and I think with that comes good results.”

Kirill Kaprizov scored on a 4-on-3 power play with 10 seconds left in overtime, and goaltender Filip Gustavsson turned in a 23-save effort.

Yakov Trenin and Joel Eriksson Ek also capitalized for the Wild, who downed the Anaheim Ducks 2-0 the previous night.

Twice backup Jesper Wallstedt has shut out the opposition, including 2-0 against the Ducks on Saturday.

“We’re battling against each other,” Gustavsson said of Wallstedt, “and we’re really pushing each other, and that’s what a good goalie tandem does.”

Both teams have changed since their first-round playoff match last season that the Golden Knights won in six games, but the tight-checking nature of this rivalry resumed.

A fortuitous bounce helped the Wild capitalize first, as Marcus Johansson’s pass up the boards caromed off Vegas’ Brett Howden and across the zone to Mats Zuccarello, who passed to Eriksson Ek for a back-post tap-in at 4:49 of the first period.

It was the ninth straight game the Wild opened the scoring, a franchise record.

BOXSCORE: Wild 3, Vegas 2 (OT)

NHL standings

As if the Wild’s stinginess wasn’t enough of an indicator they’re getting back to their bread and butter, their next goal hammered home the point: After the depth line of Trenin, rookie Danila Yurov and veteran Marcus Foligno gained Vegas ice and established a forecheck that flustered the Golden Knights, Trenin banked the puck in off goalie Carl Lindbom (24 saves) from the goal line 9:05 into the second period for his first goal of the season.

“We saw them a lot in the playoffs, and that was the recipe to play them in a tight series,” Foligno said. “You gotta get after their blue line.”

The Golden Knights power play converted again 6:35 into the third on a seeing-eye shot by Reilly Smith to go 2-for-4.

What made the finish even more impressive was how shorthanded the Wild were: Ryan Hartman exited early with a lower-body injury, and the Wild were already without injured forwards Marco Rossi and Vladimir Tarasenko.

Hynes didn’t have an update on Hartman’s status.

“It was a hard-fought game by both teams and physical,” Hynes said. “Competitive. We pushed. They pushed. It was not a lot of free ice. So, it was nice to be able to come out on top of a game that’s highly contested like that.”

This five-game point streak for the Wild is a season high.

The Wild offense cooling off isn’t a problem so long as their defense stays hot, and the tells for sustaining this crackdown on goals are encouraging.

The penalty kill hasn’t been perfect, but its current 18-for-21 clip is a factor.

And while the Wild’s execution hasn’t been overpowering, they are taking the right steps with the puck to not only generate chances but also preserve their positioning so they don’t get caught if the action reverses direction.

“Everyone knows where you need to go, play more a little bit simple, and do what you need to do,” Kaprizov said.