Wild return from break with same heat as before, defeat Red Wings in overtime

If the rest of the regular season was supposed to feel anticlimactic after the entertaining 4 Nations Face-Off, the Wild’s first game back proved otherwise.

They continued the excitement from the midseason tournament by overcoming a pesky performance by the Red Wings’ Alex DeBrincat and a series of questionable calls to rally 4-3 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena for their third consecutive victory.

“It’s always an intense game. It’s the NHL, right?” Brock Faber told reporters in Detroit after rejoining the Wild on the heels of suiting up for Team USA in the instant classic that was the 4 Nations. “Playing on the road is always intense, so it was a good battle for us.”

The Wild certainly had to fight to rekindle the momentum they had before the two-week break, capitalizing twice late in the third period to set up Marco Rossi’s clincher after another bad break against them.

Trailing 3-1 in the third period, Joel Eriksson Ek drew a penalty during a shorthanded breakaway, but he and Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin were also sent off for a tussle after the shot to subtract the Wild’s net-front presence during the ensuing 4-on-4 and subsequent power play.

But the Wild persevered, with Matt Boldy draining a slot shot with 6 minutes, 53 seconds left in the third during a delayed Red Wings penalty.

Then, with 1:31 to go in regulation and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury on the bench for an extra attacker, Marcus Foligno buried the equalizer when he wired the puck past former Wild goalie Cam Talbot (35 saves).This was the Wild’s third tying goal in the final two minutes of the third period, which is tied for tops in the league. Rossi has factored in all three, which is one point shy of matching the franchise record set by Charlie Coyle in 2016-17.

“We have an extra man,” coach John Hynes said. “But I think we’ve done a nice job of getting pucks and bodies to the net and then whether it’s finding a little pass or shot or rebound, those types of things are usually how you can score 6-on-5.”

In overtime, the Wild were tested again when Rossi was whistled for a suspect hooking penalty against Patrick Kane.

“Really long, to be honest,” Rossi said about his stint in the box. “It didn’t feel like two minutes.”

But after the Wild denied the 4-on-3 power play, Rossi accepted an Eriksson Ek pass for a breakaway and, although he whiffed on the initial shot, Rossi got enough of the puck on his re-do that it trickled into the net at 3:35 of overtime.

His second career overtime game-winner was also his 20th goal, making him only the third Austrian player with multiple 20-goal seasons.

“At the end, we always win more puck battles,” Rossi said, “and that’s why we get more chances, and we bring the puck to the net and good things happen.”

This victory improved the Wild’s NHL-best road record to 20-7-3, and their 72 points overall (34-19-4) are tied for the third most in team history through 57 games.

They now have six multigoal comebacks and two multigoal, third-period rallies; not since Nov. 6, 2021, at Philadelphia had they come back from a multigoal deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation. This was their sixth such win all-time.

The Wild were down 7:54 into the first period when DeBrincat backhanded in a bouncing puck lost by Marcus Johansson, who was a presence late by assisting on Boldy and Foligno’s goals to eclipse 500 career points.

A bizarre sequence at 5:41 of the second sunk the Wild into a deeper hole: After DeBrincat’s shot hit the post on the power play, the goal horn sounded and the referee signaled goal, but Larkin poked the rebound into the net.

Although the on-ice officials huddled and decided there wasn’t a goal, video review reversed the ruling and counted Larkin’s shot.

Faber mentioned he’d never been part of a play like that before, while Fleury accepted the blame despite hearing the puck hit the post and the horn and seeing Detroit celebrate.

“I’m not going to get into the officiating,” Hynes said, “but there are some things I need to follow up on just for information for us and for our players of what happens in those situations.”

The Wild responded quickly, with Vinnie Hinostroza whacking in his own deflection out of midair at 8:05 on the Wild’s first of four power plays. It was Hinostroza’s second goal in three games since the Wild acquired him off waivers from Nashville on Feb. 5.

Boldy had the shot that Hinostroza tipped, with him and Faber in action after playing for the U.S. team in a 3-2 overtime loss to Canada on Thursday night in the championship of the 4 Nations Face-Off. Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin and Filip Gustavsson were also in the lineup after representing Sweden, with Gustavsson backing up Fleury.

“It was a long tournament, a lot of games,” Boldy said, “but there’s no excuse. You’re playing a game in the NHL that’s a nailbiter, back-and-forth overtime game. So you’re excited, for sure.”

Later in the period, Fleury kept that 2-1 difference in place by sliding across in time to stop the Red Wings’ Michael Rasmussen before sprawling out vs. Elmer Soderblom.

This was Fleury’s 1,045th career game, which moved him into sole possession of second place in NHL history behind only Martin Brodeur’s 1,266. At 1,013 career starts, he’s only one behind Roberto Luongo for second. Fleury totaled 27 saves in his 69th overtime victory, which tied Brodeur for the NHL record.

“He’s playing at the top of his game,” Hynes said, “and he’s giving our team a chance to win whenever he’s in the net.”

The Wild were shorthanded to start the third, with Boldy serving the remainder of two penalties for going after DeBrincat after DeBrincat checked Faber to the ice late in the second.

BOXSCORE: Wild 4, Detroit 3 (OT)

NHL standings

“I just had my head down,” said Faber, who skated a game-high 30:05. “I thought it was a clean hit. They had my back though, for sure.”

“Best defenseman gets ran,” Boldy said. “You’re going to go in there and defend him.”

Detroit took advantage on a Lucas Raymond shot off the rush only 22 seconds into the period while — who else? — DeBrincat was setting a screen in front of Fleury, who said DeBrincat didn’t touch him much and that he was trying to track the puck more than create interference. The Wild challenged, but the goal stood. That was the first time the Wild were unsuccessful in seven challenges this season, and they were penalized with another Red Wings power play but Detroit didn’t convert and finished 2-for-5.

“It’s interesting if there’s a guy in the blue paint and there’s contact before a shot goes in the net that it’s not [interference],” Hynes said. “But I didn’t get an explanation either.”

This dubious decision, though, like the others didn’t derail the Wild.

Instead, they rebooted their playoff chase with another determined display.

“With a lot of things going on and adversity at different points in the game,” Hynes said, “I just thought we stuck with it and remained focused and found a way to pull it out.”