DALLAS — The Wild is unlikely to face the Stars in the first round, but how it matched up against Dallas was still significant — a much-needed victory against a rival on the cusp of the division-based playoffs.
After twice blowing a one-goal lead, the Wild finally won, 3-2 in overtime on Thursday at American Airlines Center for its third straight win and to sit 5-9-2 vs. everyone in the Central Division except bottom feeders Chicago and Arizona.
This result also kept the Wild in second place in the division with nine games left in the regular season, its 98 points tied with the Blues, but the Wild is ahead for now because it's played one fewer game.
Whoever finishes in second will host the third-place team.
Frederick Gaudreau scored 1 minute, 40 seconds into overtime after previously setting up Kevin Fiala twice, the second time in Fiala's NHL career he's scored twice in consecutive games. Fiala's up to 28 on the season, and Gaudreau's three points tied his career high.
Before Gaudreau delivered the tiebreaker, the Stars rallied twice, with Jason Robertson behind each comeback.
Robertson's second goal of the game came just 55 seconds into the third period, a shot that squeaked through Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Robertson, who finished second to Kirill Kaprizov in Calder Trophy voting last season as the NHL's top rookie, has 36 goals in his sophomore year.
But Fleury, who was debuting new equipment after rolling out a Wild-themed mask on Sunday, was unbeatable the rest of the way to finish with 34 saves at the start a two-game road trip. Up next is another Central Division clash at St. Louis on Saturday afternoon.
Fiala opened the scoring 2:14 into the first period after he accepted a Gaudreau pass while crashing the net and deked the puck around Dallas goalie Scott Wedgewood.
The goal was the Wild's 264th of the season, eclipsing the previous franchise record of 263.
That lead for the Wild held until the second period when the Stars capitalized on their first power play after Robertson backhanded in his own rebound at 6:02.
Dallas blanked on its next two power plays, while the Wild didn't receive a single power play. But the team did convert shorthanded.
Gaudreau threaded a pass to Fiala through a pair of Stars players and Fiala skated in for a breakaway that he sent over Wedgewood 11:36 into the second period for the Wild's second short-handed goal of the season.
Not only is Fiala third in goals on the Wild, behind only Ryan Hartman (29) and Kaprizov (42), but he's also third in scoring with 67 points. All three of his totals for goals, assists (39) and points are career highs for the 25-year-old.
Overall, Fiala has five multi-goal games this season and six points, including five goals, during a four-game point streak.
Fleury improved to 5-1 with the Wild, and Wedgewood had 24 stops.
