Rabid crowd and frenzied finish make Wild's home-opening victory one to remember

Wild players peeled off the bench and into celebration mode.

They surrounded Joel Eriksson Ek and wrapped a group hug around goaltender Cam Talbot, raising their arms and flashing smiles while another frenzy bustled in the seats.

What just happened was deserving of the elation, on both sides of the boards.

"It was a great game for the fans and for us," winger Mats Zuccarello said.

In front of a sellout crowd at Xcel Energy Center for the first time in 20 months, the Wild put on a memorable show by staging one of the most epic comebacks in team history.

Not once, not twice, but four times the team rallied on Tuesday before finally outlasting the Jets 6-5 in overtime on Eriksson Ek's first NHL hat trick — seconds after a game-saving stop by Talbot.

The destination was noteworthy, the first 3-0 start to the season since 2015, but the journey is even more impressive.

"It's just a bunch of guys that want to go win hockey games," defenseman Alex Goligoski said. "It's all about the team. I think on nights like [Tuesday], that can push you through and get you over the hump in some of these games that are kind of these back-and-forth, weird ones. You just stick to it and all support each other and go from there."

If the game felt extraordinary, that's because it was.

This was only the fourth time in franchise history the Wild delivered four game-tying goals and just the second time the team prevailed after trailing by multiple goals in the last five minutes of regulation. That other victory came Dec. 4, 2009, vs. Anaheim.

As for Eriksson Ek, he became the second player in Wild history to record a hat trick that included an overtime goal; Mark Parrish (Dec. 9, 2006) is the other, and only one NHLer accomplished the feat last season (Arizona's Jakob Chychrun).

"What a performance for him and great to see him get rewarded," said Goligoski, who assisted on two goals.

But that's not all that was unique about the action.

Eriksson Ek also tied the game at five with 59 seconds remaining in the third period after an overturned goal by Winnipeg.

With 1:14 to go — after winger Marcus Foligno had made it 5-4 with 4:58 to go in the third — the Jets' Mark Scheifele dumped the puck into a vacant Wild net to put Winnipeg up 6-4. The Wild issued a coach's challenge to check if the sequence was offside after the team's video coaches signaled for a review.

Sure enough, Kyle Connor entered the offensive zone before the puck, reversing the goal and reinstating a 5-4 scoreboard.

"Just one of those things with a little attention to detail by me, just stay onside, and you win a game," Connor said.

Cue Eriksson Ek, who first batted in the tying goal and then finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play with wingers Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala during a 4-on-3 power play at 3:30 of overtime. Kaprizov set a career high with three assists, while Zuccarello's four-point effort tied his career best.

Add a clutch save in overtime by Talbot, who blocked a Logan Stanley shot off a 2-on-1 to set up the team's game-winning 3-on-1 rush, and the Wild found the right combination to keep its undefeated record intact.

Factor in the atmosphere — the pregame tribute for Tom Kurvers after the Wild assistant general manager passed away in June from cancer and an announced crowd of 18,156 that was the largest for a home game since Feb. 15, 2020 — and this had the makings of an unforgettable game.

"The crowd was absolutely incredible," coach Dean Evason said. "In the third period, we all got goosebumps the way they stood up in unison at one point during a timeout and cheered. It gave us a boost. It gave us a kick at the end to go forward, and our guys appreciated it."