Takeaways: Kirill Kaprizov’s overtime goal sends Wild past Canadiens 4-3

The Canadiens defeated the Wild two weeks ago on a last-minute goal.

They almost won again with the same strategy.

Montreal scored near the end of the first and second periods before a first-minute finish in the third forced the Wild to rally 4-3 in overtime on Monday, Feb. 2, at Grand Casino Arena for their fourth consecutive victory.

“We like to work overtime,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said. “We love this job.”

Kirill Kaprizov delivered on a 4-on-3 power play 3 minutes, 38 seconds into overtime when he accepted a Quinn Hughes pass and took a few strides to the middle before wiring in his fourth OT goal of the season; that’s tied for the most in the NHL.

“I think 4-on-3, it’s easier than 5-on-4, for sure,” Kaprizov said.

In the third period, Kirby Dach put the Canadiens ahead with a curveball, connecting only 12 seconds into the period after the Wild blew a 2-0 lead on two late lulls: Brendan Gallagher capitalized with 52 seconds left in the first and Ivan Demidov with 17 seconds remaining in the second.

“We try always [to] come back in the games,” Kaprizov said. “You’re down, you just want to keep pushing [for] more offense, especially down one goal, two goals, you want to just go more aggressive [in the] offensive zone and sometimes more a little bit simple plays.

“Just keep pushing it to the net, simple pucks. Just try to play hard.”

Joel Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov had the early Wild’s goals. Kaprizov’s team-leading 32nd and 14th career OT game-winner lifted him to 217 goals in his NHL career and only two back of tying Marian Gaborik’s franchise record of 219.

Hughes’ assist on Kaprizov’s first goal extended Hughes’ assist streak to nine games, which matched Kaprizov for the longest streak in team history. This was Hughes’ fifth game with at least three assists, a franchise first for the Wild in a single season.

Gustavsson made 17 saves for the Wild, and Jakub Dobes had 20 for Montreal, which stunned the Wild at home 4-3 on Jan. 20 when Cole Caufield scored with 15 seconds to go in the third period.

Daemon Hunt left in the first period after the Wild defenseman was hit with a puck in the throat, but coach John Hynes said Hunt should be fine.

The victory was the Wild’s 12th in a row vs. the Canadiens in St. Paul, a run that started during the 2013-14 season.

“You know with this team you’re never out of it,” Gustavsson said. “We just create more chances.”

Before the Canadiens moved ahead on an early goal, the Wild did it first, as Eriksson Ek flung the puck by Dobes from the right faceoff circle just 38 seconds into the game for his fourth goal during a five-game point streak.

Then with 4:12 to go in the first period, Kaprizov got loose in front of the Montreal net to redirect in a Hughes pass. Hughes’ nine-game assist streak tied the NHL record for longest by a defenseman in his first season with a franchise.

With 52 seconds left, Gallagher cut to the middle and backhanded the puck by Gustavsson.

The last minute of the second, after an even period between the two teams, was difficult for the Wild, too: Demidov buried a one-timer with 17 seconds to go.

“I’m glad that we won the game,” Hynes said, “because I would say that those two goals in particular are great opportunities I think to teach managing the game, your shift length, attention to detail, particularly at those moments in the game.

“I think we could have done a better job in those situations.”

Montreal flipped the script in the third, scoring in the first minute instead of waiting for the end of the period.

“You try to do something good,” Gustavsson said, “and you open up and it trickles in.”

But the Wild responded when Marcus Johansson forwarded a Hughes feed deeper into Montreal territory and Faber skated into a wrister at 7:05 for his second goal in as many games; his 13 overall are the sixth-most in a single season by a Wild defenseman.

“I liked the response,” Hynes said. “We went right back to the game that we felt would give us a chance to win. We stayed with it. Obviously, Fabes had a nice goal for us.

“It was good to see the response after we had a little adversity where we had a couple letdowns.”

After Phillip Danault was penalized for hooking in overtime, the Wild sent out Kaprizov, Hughes, Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy, and the Wild converted barely a minute later.

As for Hughes, he reached 400 career assists in his 484th game to become the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to hit the milestone behind only Bobby Orr (437) and Paul Coffey (464); Hughes is the second-fastest American, trailing Craig Janney (477)

His 50 assists are tops in the league for defensemen, the fifth consecutive season he’s posted 50.

“You have those four guys on the ice, you know you’re gonna get some good looks,” Hynes said. “You know they’re gonna get chances. You just hope the goalie doesn’t stand on his head.”

BOXSCORE: Wild 4, Montreal 3 (OT)

NHL standings

The Wild certainly have range.

Just look at their win streak: A three-goal rally vs. the Blackhawks, a sleepy victory against the Flames, a rout of the Oilers courtesy a season-high seven goals and then a comeback to overtake the Canadiens in overtime after coughing up a two-goal lead.

With the Wild, Stars and Avalanche so far ahead of the rest of the Central Division, the Wild haven’t been in trouble of falling out of the top three for months.

But they’re still getting regular reps of pressure-packed hockey with the different situations they find themselves in — like falling behind then pulling ahead, or vice versa — and that perseverance should come in handy in the playoffs.

“That’s just the sign of a good team, right?” Faber said. “You’re not going to be leading going into the third every game. So, it’s finding ways to win and finding ways to take those punches and prevail is huge.”