Blues squander point in West race in OT loss to Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kevin Fiala scored 2:16 into overtime, and the Minnesota Wild rallied from down two goals in the third period for a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday to avoid being swept in a three-game series.

Fiala won it with a one-timer from the right face-off circle on a give-and-go with Mats Zuccarello.
St. Louis (23-19-7) remained three points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes with three games in hand in the race for the fourth and final Stanley Cup Playoff berth from the eight-team Honda West Division; the Coyotes lost 3-2 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. The Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche and Wild have clinched.
Jonas Brodin tied it 3-3 on a one-timer from the point through traffic with 1:00 remaining in the third period and goalie Kaapo Kahkonen pulled for an extra attacker.
"I just passed it out to [Fiala], and he gave it back to me pretty quick. I was just trying to get it on net," Brodin said. "… It was huge for us to win that last game here. I think it gave us some confidence.
"It doesn't matter if we clinched the playoffs already. The last games here, it's going to be important to get the wins and get confidence going into the playoffs. Just have to keep working hard and hope we get more wins."

Nico Sturm got the Wild within 3-2 at 14:09 when he redirected a shot by Brodin.
Minnesota (32-14-4) had lost four straight games to St. Louis, including the past two at home, 4-3 on Wednesday and 5-4 in overtime Thursday.
"We lost the two games, but for us, we realized that we could have won both games too," Sturm said. "It's not like we didn't have a chance to win those games. And even today, it just speaks to the group. … It speaks to the guys in the locker room to just once more get the job done.
"This is the kind of game that we need to play in two weeks when playoffs roll around."
The Wild are two points behind the Avalanche for second place in the West and six behind the Golden Knights for first. Colorado won 4-3 against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
St. Louis had won four games in a row.
"We played a solid two periods, got a 3-1 lead, just go close it out," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "All you have to do is manage the game. Advance the puck, make sure you get it in deep, get line changes, and just make hard plays."

Kahkonen made 28 saves. Jordan Binnington made 34 for St. Louis.
Jordan Kyrou finished a pass from Robert Thomas at 17:00 of the first period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. Sammy Blais made it 2-0 with a high wrist shot at 18:49.
Zuccarello scored to make it 2-1 at 6:53 of the second period, one-timing a pass by Kirill Kaprizov in the left face-off circle.
"We just kept grinding away and grinding away and ultimately found a way," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "If there's an example, it's this hockey club we just played. That's what they do."
David Perron scored on a rebound at 12:41 to make it 3-1.
"We've just got to turn the page on this, be happy we got results the last several games," Perron said. "We've still got a point streak going and we've got to keep pushing."
NOTES: The Blues were without forward Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body) for a second straight game. Defenseman Torey Krug (lower body) missed the game. … Kyrou has two goals and three assists during a three-game point streak. … Wild forward Marcus Johansson was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. Evason said he is day to day. Forward Nick Bjugstad replaced him after being a healthy scratch the previous four games. Bjugstad had two shots on goal, one hit and one blocked shot in 10:11. … Minnesota is one of three NHL teams that has not lost three games in a row this season. The Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins are the others. … Zuccarello has scored nine points (five goals, four assists) in the past 10 games. … Fiala has scored 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in his past 18 games.