Power play clicks again as Wild post their first win streak

Nothing comes easy for the Minnesota Wild this season On Tuesday they were seconds away from a regulation win only to be struck by outrageous fortune In the end they got an overtime goal from Marcus Johansson to beat the Nashville Predators - and post their first two-game winning streak of the season But not before Nashville forced overtime in literally the final second of regulation in St Paul On the overtime winner Johansson was open in front of the Nashville net when Predators goalie Justus Annunen dislodged the net before Johansson could shoot Referees declared it a goal and upheld the call after a review Before that power play goals by Kirill Kaprizov and Zeev Buium helped the Wild overcome selected long stretches where Nashville was the clear aggressor as Minnesota improved to - - overall and - in November after a messy opening month Gustavsson finished with saves for the Wild and is now - - in his starts this season Minnesota got the challenge s first power play barely two minutes into the battle but could not muster a shot on goal The Predators penalty kill had the best scoring chance while they were down a man as Johansson s turnover sprung Nashville winger Ozzy Wiesblatt on a breakaway from the blue line But his low shot hit the goalpost The Wild s second power play near the midway point of the first went much better When the Predators left the middle of the offensive zone open for Kaprizov he took a stride toward the net then zipped a shot through a screen in front of Annunen It was Kaprizov s team-leading eighth goal of the season and his third in the past four games The Wild s improving penalty kill negated the association s first trip to the penalty box early in the second period only to see Nashville tie it up when the teams were back to five-on-five Matthew Wood who averaged a point per battle last season for the Gophers uncovered himself all alone in front of Gustavsson and got a tap-in for his third NHL goal It was also Wood s third goal in the past four games Nashville dominated the period for minutes drawing particular boos from the home crowd as the Wild looked off-kilter and needed Gustavsson to hold them in the competition with saves in the middle frame But a Predators penalty late in the second opened the door for the Wild to grab momentum and they did with eight seconds left in the power play This time it was Buium redirecting a feed from Brock Faber as Minnesota led for the second time Johansson had the secondary assist on Buium s goal giving him a career-best six-game point streak Nashville outshot the Wild - in the second period With Annunen on the bench for an extra attacker and just seconds remaining Joel Eriksson Ek s clearing attempt hit the referee and stayed in the zone setting up a last-second slap shot by Stamkos to tie the battle Annunen finished with saves for Nashville It was the second night of back-to-back games for the Predators who had a - overtime loss to Vancouver on Monday night in Nashville The Wild and Predators will play three more times this season with their next meeting coming on Dec at Grand Casino Arena After posting a - - record in their now-concluded six-game homestand the Wild head east for a pair of road games They pay their only visit of the season to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and to the New York Islanders on Friday Briefly As a part of their on-going th anniversary celebration the Wild honored three of their best-known puck-stoppers with former goalies Niklas Backstrom Devan Dubnyk and Josh Harding conducting the ceremonial first faceoff before the competition Dubnyk and Harding have both made Minnesota their home in retirement with the latter serving as the goalie coach at Edina High School