ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Wild finally looked more like themselves, and they were rewarded for it.
After posting their first lead in three games and skating with a desperation appropriate for their situation, they stood up the Devils 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday in front of 19,065 at Xcel Energy Center to snap their three-game losing streak.
This slump-busting victory moved the Wild (60 points) back into the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Mats Zuccarello and Frederick Gaudreau converted in the shootout while Filip Gustavsson denied both attempts by New Jersey to complete the Wild's rally after Ryan Hartman scored the equalizer earlier in the third period for the Wild's first 5-on-5 goal in three games.
After juggling most of their lines, the Wild were aggressive in the first period and capitalized on the power play at 5:52 when Joel Eriksson Ek tipped in a Calen Addison shot.
The goal lifted Eriksson Ek to the 20-goal plateau for a second consecutive season and pushed his point streak to five games. Addison's assist gave him 30 points, tying him with Filip Kuba for the most by a rookie defenseman in Wild history.
Eriksson Ek's tally also secured the Wild's first lead since the third period of the 3-2 loss on Monday at Arizona.
But for a third straight game, the Wild had a lull in the second period; that's also when they fell apart in recent setbacks to Dallas and Vegas.
Only 2:45 into the second, Tomas Tatar wired in a one-timer just seconds after the Wild were back to full strength following an Eriksson Ek holding penalty. New Jersey ended up 0 for 2 on the power play, while the Wild finished 1 for 3.
Soon after, the Devils' Nathan Bastian was whistled for roughing Kirill Kaprizov but the Wild never went on that power play; Bastian and Hartman fought, and Hartman was assessed an instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct.
Then at 6:04, New Jersey moved ahead of the Wild when a Damon Severson shot hit Tatar and floated by Gustavsson and into the Wild net.
Momentum changed 5:25 into the third when Matt Dumba's shot hit Hartman and then Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton's skate before rolling into the net, the kind of fortuitous bounce the Wild have been missing lately.
Vitek Vanecek had 22 saves for New Jersey, and Gustavsson totaled 27 stops.
