The Minnesota Wild, no longer in playoff contention, ended a three-game losing streak on Thursday night by defeating the Florida Panthers, 3-2, in overtime. The Panthers still lead the Pacific Division in the Eastern Conference, but only lead the Washington Capitals by four points now.
After a scoreless first period in which Minnesota outshot the Panthers 13-9, Florida scored the lone goal in the second period on a wrister by Scott Upshall (2).
The third period is when all the action happened, similar to a playoff hockey game. Minnesota knotted the score on Kyle Brodziak's 21st goal of the season just over a minute into the period. Florida answered on the power play, though, on Tomas Felschmann's 25th goal of the season.
It looked like the Wild were going to lose another tough one, but Erik Christensen scored with just 31 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. In the extra five-minute frame, the captain took care of business 15 seconds in.
Jason Zucker got off three shots in over 10 minutes of ice time in his debut.
Minnesota plays next on Saturday against the Kings.
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