Down two goals heading into the third period, the Wild was looking for a spark.
"We needed something," coach Dean Evason said.
Although the coaches brainstormed a few lineup tweaks, they ultimately chose to put Victor Rask next to Kevin Fiala, and the two immediately clicked.
The Wild didn't come out on top, but the team did make it to overtime to snag a point in a 5-4 loss Thursday to the Blues. And after Rask and Fiala led the comeback, the duo remained together Saturday when the Wild again faced St. Louis at Xcel Energy Center.
"It just seemed natural to make that move," Evason said. "They've played together before, so it felt comfortable to us and fortunately it worked out and we got ourselves to overtime."
On their first shift in the third on Thursday, Rask set up Fiala for a goal, and later in the period, Fiala returned the favor — a finish that brought the Wild's deficit back to a goal after the Blues went up 4-2. The line, which was filled out by Marcus Johansson, was also on the ice in the final minute as the Wild vied for the tying goal, and again the Wild scored. Fiala fed Kirill Kaprizov with the goalie pulled and an extra attacker on the ice.
Rask and Fiala also saw ice time in overtime before the Wild's rally fell short, but the team seemed to have found a combination worth keeping intact for now.
"Me, Kevin and also JoJo have some good chemistry," Rask said. "It's nice when you can switch the lines when we were down a goal, and I think we did a good job. But obviously we wanted to win."