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Kirill Kaprizov scored 1:01 into overtime, Joel Eriksson Ek netted four goals and the Minnesota Wild escaped with an 8-7 win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Both players celebrated remarkable returns from prolonged lower-body-injury absences for Minnesota (43-29-7, 93 points), which won its second game in a row. Kaprizov finished with two goals and an assist in his first game since Jan. 26.

Eriksson Ek, appearing in his first game since Feb. 22, produced the second game of four-plus goals in Wild history. Marian Gaborik logged five goals against the New York Rangers on Dec. 20, 2007. Minnesota’s Matt Boldy recorded four assists.

Rookie Macklin Celebrini notched his first hat trick and tallied two assists for San Jose (20-47-11, 51 points), which lost its seventh game in a row (0-5-2).

Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury earned his 574th career victory despite allowing seven goals on 31 shots. The contest likely marked the final regular-season start on home ice for Fleury, who has said this is his final campaign. Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev took the overtime loss after giving up eight goals on 44 shots.

Oilers 4, Blues 3

Connor Brown scored twice, including the game-winner with 20.4 seconds remaining in regulation, as Edmonton edged visiting St. Louis.

In the last minute, Brown backhanded a Connor McDavid pass past Jordan Binnington. McDavid, who returned to the Oilers’ lineup after missing eight games due to a lower-body injury, had three assists in the win. Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson also scored for Edmonton, which avoided a third straight loss and improved to 32-2-3 when leading after two periods this season. With the win, Edmonton moved two points back of the second-place Kings in the Pacific Division.

Pavel Buchnevich produced a goal and two assists, Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist and Ryan Suter also scored for the Blues, who have lost back-to-back games after having their franchise-best 12-game winning streak snapped on Monday.

Ducks 4, Flames 3 (OT)

Cutter Gauthier’s second goal of the game was the overtime winner, giving host Anaheim a comeback victory over Calgary.

Trevor Zegras and Frank Vatrano also scored for Anaheim, which erased a two-goal deficit late in the third period. Leo Carlsson collected two assists, and Ducks goaltender Ville Husso made 36 saves.

Mikael Backlund collected one goal and one assist while Yegor Sharangovich and Matt Coronato also tallied for the Flames, who wasted an opportunity to aid their flickering playoff hopes. Goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 19 shots. Calgary is five points outside of a playoff position.

Maple Leafs 4, Lightning 3 (OT)

Matthew Knies capped a hat trick with the game-winner at 2:56 of overtime as Toronto earned a giant win, edging host Tampa Bay in a battle for Atlantic Division supremacy.

Knies recorded his second career hat trick off a dish from Auston Matthews as the first-place Leafs moved to 8-2 in the overtime period and swept all four matches from the Lightning. Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists, and Matthews had three assists. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves to record his sixth consecutive win.

Opening a four-game homestand, second-place Tampa Bay had Nick Perbix score at even strength, while Oliver Bjorkstrand and Victor Hedman had goals on the power play. Brandon Hagel had two assists, and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots. First-line left winger Jake Guentzel, a 38-goal scorer, was scratched due to a family reason.

Flyers 8, Rangers 5

Tyson Foerster recorded his first career hat trick and Sean Couturier scored the tiebreaking goal with 8:05 remaining in the third period as visiting Philadelphia earned a victory over New York.

The result leaves the Rangers on the verge of elimination from the Eastern Conference playoff race. Artemi Panarin scored his 300th career goal and Vincent Trocheck also tallied for the Rangers, who made numerous defensive mistakes in the third and dropped to 3-7-1 in their past 11.

The already-eliminated Flyers won for the fourth time in five games under interim coach Brad Shaw. In a game that was tied four times, Couturier snapped a 4-4 tie by getting to the net alone. Foerster finished off his hat trick by scoring into an empty-net with 55 seconds left.

–Field Level Media