Wild beats Detroit in shootout after second-period brawl, losing late lead

DETROIT — The spotlight kept hovering over the Red Wings crease.

That's where the Wild was the beneficiary of an own goal, had a goal wiped away because of goaltender interference and battled Detroit in a melee that broke out at the end of the second period — a bloody brawl that attracted both goalies.

And later, after each side erased a third-period deficit, the Wild finished off a tension-fueled 6-5 shootout win into the Red Wings net on Thursday in front of 17,461 at Little Caesars Arena to seal back-to-back victories for the first time in almost a month.

"That's the kind of team we are," Matt Dumba said. "Character team."

Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Fiala delivered in the shootout, the only players to capitalize after Detroit was denied on its two tries.

For Zuccarello, who also scored in regulation, it was his 11th career game-deciding goal, while Fiala recorded his team-leading fourth shootout tally. Goalie Cam Talbot made 29 saves in his third consecutive win, backstopping the Wild to its NHL-leading seventh multigoal comeback.

"There's a lot of intensity right now, which probably is a good thing," coach Dean Evason said. "We need to be that intense in order for us to play the way that we want to play."

Fiala slid the puck to Matt Boldy for a one-timer 1:37 into the first period, with Fiala extending his point streak to five games. Then, after Jakub Vrana evened the score at 6:14, the Wild reclaimed the lead on a bizarre own goal by Detroit goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic; he whacked a deflected puck by Joel Eriksson Ek into the net at 12:07. The goal counted as Eriksson Ek's second in as many games and with an assist later in the game, he set a new career high in points at 31.

Nedeljkovic, however, would make up for that mistake during his 35-save effort.

He earned an assist on the Red Wings' next goal, a shot by Lucas Raymond 14:09 into the first. And on the power play with 1:29 to go in the period, Detroit moved ahead on a one-timer from Vrana.

That advantage doubled in the second when Raymond converted on a redirect at 5:52, but the Wild persevered.

Zuccarello's shot from the right side at 9:31 on the power play flew by Nedeljkovic and then barely 3 minutes later, Jordan Greenway tipped in the equalizer while Eriksson Ek was jostling with the Red Wings' Pius Suter, who ended up bumping into Nedeljkovic as the puck sailed into the net.

"We're still really baffled on the call," Evason said.

Play was also in front of Nedeljkovic when the second period wrapped, with both sides tangled up in the crease and Nedeljkovic punching Greenway after the horn sounded. Individual fights broke out, and Talbot skated the length of the rink to join the fracas.

He and Nedeljkovic were kept apart, but a tussle between Dumba and Raymond resulted in a pool of blood from Raymond on the ice.

"He was on my back and choking me, and I slipped out of it and kinda just seeing red at that point," Dumba said. "I was just swinging, swinging back."

In the end, Detroit received a power play to begin the third.

Not only did the Wild survive the chance, but the team tallied the tying goal soon after when Boldy's shot trickled through Nedeljkovic at 3:04.

Boldy is up to 11 goals, and this was his second career multigoal game. The other was a hat trick vs. the Red Wings on Feb. 14. Frederick Gaudreau's assist was his second of the game.

Later in the third, at 12:13, Kirill Kaprizov whacked in a rebound for the go-ahead goal, his team-leading 29th during a seven-game point streak.

But Jordan Oesterle's blistering shot with 2:51 left in the third period sent the game to extra time, where the Wild picked up back-to-back wins for the first time since Feb. 12 and 14.