Vladimir Tarasenko scored the winning goal 3:06 into overtime to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Bobby Brink also scored for Minnesota (40-19-12, 92 points), which won in overtime for the second time in its past three games. Brink also picked up an assist on the winning goal.
Jason Robertson scored the lone goal for Dallas (43-15-11, 97 points), which holds a five-point lead over the Wild for second place in the Central Division. Miro Heiskanen and Matt Duchene assisted on Robertson’s tally.
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 28 of 29 shots to collect the victory. He made nine saves in the first period, nine saves in the second and 10 saves in the third.
Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger allowed two goals on 28 shots.
Tarasenko pumped his fist after scoring the decisive goal. It was his fourth goal in his past four games and 20th of the season.
The winning play developed slowly for Minnesota. Brink had the puck along the side boards as Tarasenko waited patiently near the right circle. The Stars’ defenders drifted toward the puck and neglected Tarasenko, who eventually received a pass from Brink and fired a snap shot that zipped past Oettinger.
Dallas opened the scoring on the power play with 5:39 to go in the first period. Robertson fired a shot through traffic for his 38th goal of the season.
The play put Robertson atop the Stars’ goal-scoring list. He entered the game tied with teammate Wyatt Johnston with 37 apiece.
Minnesota made it 1-1 with 9:15 remaining in the second period. Quinn Hughes zipped a long pass to Brink, who got behind the defense for a mini-breakaway and finished with a backhand.
The play gave the ex-Philadelphia Flyer two goals in five games since joining the Wild.
Dallas finished 1-for-5 on the power play. Minnesota went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.
–Field Level Media
