Wild finds late heroics again, salvages point in Nashville

NASHVILLE -- Like it did seven days prior in Winnipeg, the Wild showed that no third-period deficit is insurmountable.
For the second time in a week, Minnesota tied the game with the extra attacker on the ice, salvaging a crucial point on Tuesday against the Nashville Predators.
"The one thing about our team recently, we don't quit," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "We keep fighting and fighting, and we got the goal in the end."

Unlike its comeback against the Jets, the Wild was unable to finish off the victory, although it came close. Minnesota spent a bulk of the final 90 seconds pressuring in the Nashville end, then had a full two-minute power play in overtime, but couldn't score the winning goal.
Like Sunday's game, it went to a shootout, where like Sunday's game, Ryan Johansen won it in round four, earning the Predators the bonus point.

"It's always nice to get points along the way," said Wild forward Eric Fehr. "I thought we put ourselves in a good spot on the power play in overtime. We're going to be kicking ourselves for not getting two tonight but it was nice to come back and at least force overtime. It just shows the kind compete in this room."
Minnesota's late rallies over the past week have given the Wild three extra points in the standings it would have otherwise missed out on. The Wild has a two-point edge on Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and a three-point advantage on Arizona.
Its also kept alive a points streak that has now reached seven games, a season best.
"I just feel like we're starting to build more and more. I thought throughout this game we did a good job," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk. "Obviously, they're good and they're going to have their time. I just liked the way we pushed. I just thought there was a ton of good stuff going on out there tonight. It's nice to get the point because we want to keep this good feeling going. We certainly deserved a point if not two tonight."
In terms of building, the Wild has to be pleased with what it got from newcomer Kevin Fiala, who scored a pair of goals in his return to Nashville. His first goal tied the game at 1-1 after the Predators scored early in the game, and his last one came in the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation to send it to overtime, and eventually the shootout.

The late salvo was prototypical Fiala, as Eric Staal won a big draw back to Zach Parise, who worked it quickly to the left-handed Fiala for a blistering shot past Pekka Rinne.
"That's definitely what he's known for," said Wild forward Jason Zucker. "He's been able to make plays like that. So it was nice to see. It was good to see him get his first couple with us. Hopefully that just puts him on a roll."
Fiala nearly finished the hat trick on the overtime power play, whistling a shot through the legs of a defenseman that was labeled for the back of the net. But Rinne made a tremendous glove save while moving to his right to keep the game alive.

"I shot it through Ryan