Wild's third consecutive overtime ends quickly with sixth consecutive victory

The Wild wasn't going to catch the Avalanche in the Central Division with a win.

Or two. Or three.

Colorado is lapping the competition while also leading the race for the Presidents' Trophy that recognizes the NHL's best record.

But what the Wild could accomplish in a Sunday showdown was alerting the Avalanche of what it can expect the rest of the way from its new-look rival, an update that was dutifully delivered in a 3-2 overtime rally in front of 19,140 at Xcel Energy Center for the Wild's sixth straight victory.

"If you want to get to the Stanley Cup Final, you have to go through them," Kevin Fiala said. "So, we don't really care how many points they have. We can beat anybody, and that's what we know — not just think.

"It was just a good test for us, and now we can keep going forward."

Not only is the Wild the first in the NHL this season to post three winning streaks of at least six games, but this is also the first time in franchise history the team has achieved that feat.

The Wild is 8-1-1 over its last 10, building a four-point lead over No. 3 Nashville for second in the division.

"The team's really bonded and really come together for a common goal," Kirill Kaprizov said in Russian through a translator. "Every single one of us puts pressure on themselves and takes ownership of what we need to do to get better."

Fiala ended the Wild's third straight overtime session after just 15 seconds, one-timing in Mats Zuccarello's third assist of the game for his third career OT goal after the Wild trotted out four forwards for a carry-over power play.

That setup culminated in the Wild's seventh overtime goal; only three teams in NHL history have finished a season with at least that many tallies while also not getting scored on in overtime, like the Wild has so far.

"Our team is coming together and understanding that we've got something special here," Matt Dumba said. "That's what you're seeing now."

Ryan Hartman kickstarted the comeback at 14:33 of the third period when he roofed a Zuccarello feed over Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper, erasing the deficit the Avalanche pinned on the Wild with a pair of goals off faceoff wins.

Nazem Kadri had the first, spoiling goalie Cam Talbot's shutout bid 6:21 into the third with his wind-up outside the left circle. Mikko Rantanen converted on the power play at 10:03.

Both goals came while Colorado was missing Nathan MacKinnon, who was in the penalty box for fighting Dumba after Dumba leveled Rantanen.

Before Kadri scored, Talbot rattled off 32 consecutive saves, a streak that prevented the Avalanche from running up the score despite severely outshooting the Wild.

Aside from keeping MacKinnon off the scoresheet, Talbot's highlights included back-to-back stops on Rantanen and Kadri on the penalty kill and fending off a shorthanded 2-on-0 by Colorado. Overall, he racked up 40 saves to tie his season high while notching a career best eighth straight win.

"I'm just a small piece of the puzzle," Talbot said, "and I'm just going out there trying to give us a chance to win. I know those guys are going to do their thing in front of me. It's not looking at it as a personal stretch. This is a team stretch, and it's just fun to be a part of."

As the second period neared a conclusion, the Wild started to push back against the pressure and Kaprizov eked out a Wild lead.

He scored his fourth goal over his past three games, burying a Hartman behind-the-net pass on the power play at 18:07 for his fourth goal over the last three games, 36th on the season and 81st point. He is two points shy of Marian Gaborik's single-season scoring record with the Wild.

Kuemper totaled 26 saves, and the Wild power play finished 2-for-4; the Avalanche went 1-for-3.

But Kaprizov wasn't the only one to make an impact.

The message to the Avalanche was sent by the entire team.

"The way we've been playing and where they are in the standings, you kind of had this one circled," Talbot said. "It's a good measuring stick, especially after we've been rolling here pretty well lately."