Kirill Kaprizov's goal slump finally ends with overtime game-winner; Wild beat Senators 5-4

Nico Sturm didn't officially earn an assist on the play, but he put the goal in motion.

Sturm and Kirill Kaprizov were next up for an overtime shift, and Sturm told Kaprizov to make the first substitution.

"I knew he had one in him tonight," Sturm said.

So when Frederick Gaudreau approached the bench for a line change, Kaprizov darted into action while Sturm idled.

And when Sturm finally made it on the ice, he wasn't joining the play.

He was piling onto a postgame celebration.

"Maybe he owes me dinner," Sturm said. "We'll talk about that."

Kaprizov scored his first goal of the season in overtime, shedding an eight-game drought and lifting the Wild to a 5-4 victory over the Senators on Tuesday in front of 15,276 at Xcel Energy Center that also nixed the Wild's two-game slide.

Since coach Dean Evason took over, the team has yet to lose three in a row in the regular season. The Wild (6-3) is also a league-best 6-0 in one-goal games.

BOXSCORE: Wild 5, Ottawa 4 (OT)

"He's pretty excited," Evason said of Kaprizov, who mentioned that the goal felt like his first ever.

With 2 minutes, 58 seconds to go in overtime, Kaprizov one-timed a Kevin Fiala pass by Ottawa goalie Filip Gustavsson for his third career overtime goal, ranking fifth in Wild history — and he's barely into his second season.

"Nobody on the team was worried about him," Sturm said. "We knew it was coming. I'm sure he'll score a couple more this year."

That Kaprizov and Fiala teamed up to polish off this victory was fitting.

Both had struggled to score in October, combining for only one goal, but the Wild's top forwards simultaneously climbed out of their slumps.

"I give those guys a lot of credit," Sturm said. "Even though they hadn't scored as much as they wanted to the last couple games, they played a team game. I give them a lot of credit for that."

Fiala finished with two assists, snapping a five-game pointless rut, while Kaprizov also had an assist. He is tied with Marcus Foligno, who scored twice in regulation, for the most points on the team with eight.

"They have a lot of pressure because they're counted on to do it every night," Foligno said. "I definitely don't have that pressure on me the way they do. It's nice to contribute, but at the same time I think you just have to go back to the basics when you're in the ruts.

"They were unbelievable tonight."

Foligno started the parade of goals just 3:57 into the first period, shuffling in a puck to push his point streak to three games.

On the very next shift, Calen Addison scored his first NHL goal when his point shot bounced in off the Senators' Michael Del Zotto at 4:24.

"At the end of the day, they don't ask how and quite honestly, I don't care either," Addison said. "That was something I'll never forget, for sure."

Nick Paul responded for Ottawa at 10:48, but Sturm put the Wild up 3-1 at 13:35 when he pounced on a rebound after getting cross-checked to the ice.

"Our goals were kind of in and around the crease," Sturm said. "That's where we're having success, the gritty goals."

That two-goal lead, however, dissolved into a one-goal deficit in the second.

The Wild thought Josh Norris played the puck with a high stick before a Drake Batherson goal at 2:12, but video review disagreed. Not only did the goal count, but the Senators received a power play for the unsuccessful challenge and Norris capitalized on the look at 3:23.

"We still think it's a high stick," Evason said. "But maybe they have a different [angle]."

Video again went against the Wild at 7:48; after a goal was initially waved off for being batted in the net illegally, a review determined the puck simply caromed off Chris Tierney's shoulder and behind goalie Cam Talbot, who ended up with 24 saves. Gustavsson had 38.

"It's just bounces," Foligno said. "But I think we create those negative bounces by our play."

But the Wild went into the third period tied at 4 after Foligno scored his second of the game on the power play at 10:10. Both teams finished 1-for-4 with the man advantage, and Foligno is tied with Ryan Hartman for the team lead in goals with four.

"It's just nice to see us fight back," said Foligno, who recorded the 10th multi-goal game of his career. "That's the mentality of the group this year. We don't stop. It's good to have that, for sure. But we want to win games by two goals, three goals, and have that feeling where we have a lead and can shut it down."

Foligno had a chance at a hat trick late in the third period, but the game progressed to overtime.

That's when Kaprizov and Fiala shined.

"You look at the guys we're throwing on the ice, you have a pretty good chance of putting the puck in the net," Addison said. "Just a great play by Kev and just a good finish by Kirill."