Takeaways: Wild turn defeat into overtime victory at Winnipeg to kick off road trip

The Wild lightened their load as they started a season-long road trip.

They kicked off a seven-game, six-city, 14-day trek by rallying 4-3 in overtime against the Jets at Canada Life Centre on Saturday, Dec. 27, for their first victory in three games.

“I didn’t think it was a bad game from us,” Matt Boldy told reporters in Winnipeg. “I didn’t think it was our best. But just sticking with it, taking the positives and getting back on track, I think, is the biggest thing for us.”

Boldy scored twice, including 39 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime, after the Wild pulled goaltender Jesper Wallstedt for an extra attacker and Mats Zuccarello forced extra time during a 6-on-4 power play. Zuccarello whacked in a seeing-eye pass from Kirill Kaprizov with 22 seconds to go in the third period.

Winnipeg’s Dylan DeMelo took the late cross-checking penalty on Joel Eriksson Ek that put the Wild on the power play, which whiffed on its previous three attempts, but the Wild capitalized when it mattered most.

Boldy is up to 24 goals, a team high, after his fifth career OT finish, a one-timer on a Quinn Hughes pass.

Hughes racked up three assists for his first multi-point game with the Wild after the defenseman and Kaprizov factored in both Zuccarello’s equalizer and Boldy’s game-winner.

The Wild were down 3-2 after the Jets received goals from Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele in a 2:01 span late in the second period to overcome a 2-1 lead for the Wild courtesy Boldy and Kaprizov.

This was two victories in a row for the Wild vs. Winnipeg after the Wild ended a nine-game losing streak vs. the Jets Nov. 23 by blanking their Central Division rival 3-0 in a 32-save shutout for Wallstedt.

The NHL’s reigning MVP, Connor Hellebuyck, was hurt that game, but the goalie played in the rematch, stopping 15 shots in his first loss in eight games against the Wild. Wallstedt was back in net for the Wild and made 23 saves.

Before breaking for the holidays, the Wild lost to two other division opponents in the Avalanche and Predators (in overtime).

They flew into Winnipeg before the game and are on the road while Grand Casino Arena plays host to the World Junior Championship. A change of scenery gave the Wild the fresh start they needed.

The Jets had their first goal disallowed because they were offside.

Former Wild forward Gustav Nyquist had what would have been his first goal of the season overturned because another former Wild forward in Nino Niederreiter preceded the puck into the offensive zone; oddly enough, Nyquist was the Wild player offside that resulted in a potential game-winner by Ryan Hartman called back in the playoffs last season vs. the Golden Knights.

The Wild improved to 4-for-4 in coach’s challenges, but it wasn’t long before Winnipeg made a 1-0 lead stick: Josh Morrissey uncorked a slapshot by a screened Wallstedt barely 2 minutes later, at 11:36 of the first period.

It was the Wild, though, who had momentum going into the second after Boldy deflected in a shot from captain Jared Spurgeon with 1:31 left in the first.

“He’s so good at finding lanes and giving you shots that are very tippable,” Boldy said of Spurgeon. “It wasn’t a designed play or anything. Just try to get to the net. Hellebuyck’s so good, so the more you’re there, the better chances you get because he makes a lot of saves.”

But the Wild lost control late in the period.

First, Scheifele found Connor for a wide-open one-timer after Gabriel Vilardi got the puck deep for the Jets.

Then Scheifele took a Jonathan Toews faceoff win, skated into the slot and connected on a 30-foot wrister.

“We kind of made some small mistakes, and they ended up capitalizing on their chances,” Wallstedt said. “But I thought the game overall was tight throughout. At the end there, we obviously knew maybe we had an extra level, and we put that in.”

DeMelo cross-checked Eriksson Ek in front of Hellebuyck despite Winnipeg clearing the zone, and the penalty was costly.

This was the 27th three-assist game of Hughes’ career, which ranks third among American defensemen; he trails only Brian Leetch (40) and Phil Housley (34).

“When we’re playing hard and simple and letting the plays come to us rather than force them, that’s what makes us good,” said Boldy, who played with Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov in the third period. “Other than the second there, we were forcing it a little bit too much and trying to make too many plays and went out for the third and kind of simplified a bit and found a way to tie it up.”

The last time the Wild scored a later game-tying goal was with 3 seconds left Nov. 6, 2021, at Pittsburgh.

Before Boldy’s goal, Wallstedt denied Scheifele for the fourth time.

“My eyes were early on the puck, so I kind of saw he was loading up a little half slapshot,” Wallstedt said. “I thought I got there in good position and was ready for the puck wherever it was going to go.”

NHL standings

Thanks to Zuccarello’s goal, the Wild power play went 1-for-4 to end a 0-for-9 funk; the penalty kill was 3-for-3.

“I thought the power play was good,” Boldy said. “Good movement. A little more simple. It’s getting better [and] more comfortable with Quinn up there.”

The Wild look like themselves again.

A lull in consecutive games isn’t concerning by any means, but going winless in two straight is unusual for the Wild; they were in jeopardy of dropping three in a row for the first time since their dreadful five-game losing streak in October.

If this strategy holds up, this could be an extremely productive stint for the Wild away from St. Paul.