Kevin Fiala had just scored a game-tying goal, after Kirill Kaprizov served up one earlier in the third period, and Mats Zuccarello was in a playmaking groove.
But as the Wild vied to finally overtake the Blackhawks in 3-on-3 overtime, the team didn't shorten its bench to keep ushering its top players onto the ice.
Actually, coach Dean Evason opted for the opposite strategy and that's how the Wild eventually completed a 4-3 comeback on Saturday in front of 19,092 at Xcel Energy Center to sweep a weekend home-and-home with Chicago and pick up its fifth win over the past six games.
"That's who we are," Evason said. "We like to roll everybody 5-on-5 but in those situations, we like to use other people, too, and we've been fortunate to get it done."
With 38 seconds left in overtime, Jordan Greenway set up Marcus Foligno for a shot that sailed past Blackhawks goalie Kevin Lankinen for Foligno's first career overtime goal during a season-high 21 minutes, 45 seconds of ice time.
Foligno and Greenway were the sixth different set of forwards utilized by the Wild in overtime and among forwards, only center Joel Eriksson Ek took multiple shifts.
"They're fresh," Evason said. "We believe that that's a key element. Yeah, some guys have more skill to score goals than some people that are out there but if you're fresh, we think the field gets leveled a little bit, right?
"Our depth is good, so that allows us to do that."