Eriksson Ek, Wild rally past Jets in OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. --Joel Eriksson Ek completed his first NHL hat trick with a power-play goal at 3:30 of overtime, and the Minnesota Wild rallied for a 6-5 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.

Eriksson Ek finished off a 3-on-1 with Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala at the right post after he tied it 5-5 with 59 seconds remaining in regulation.
Seconds prior to Eriksson Ek's overtime goal, Cam Talbot stopped Logan Stanley's attempt on a 2-on-1 before starting the odd-man rush.
"They got a 2-on-1 there, and 'Talbs' came up with a huge save for us," Eriksson Ek said. "We knew they were shorthanded, and two guys were caught up high, and we're just trying to go that way as quickly as possible, and [Fiala] and [Kaprizov] set me up really well on the backdoor. Just trying to get there and get open."
Mats Zuccarello had two goals and two assists, Kaprizov had three assists, and Talbot made 25 saves for Minnesota (3-0-0).

Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist, Andrew Copp had a goal and two assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 38 saves for Winnipeg (0-2-1), which was without captain Blake Wheeler because of COVID-19 protocol.
"That's a tough way to lose a hockey game, when we've got a two-goal lead there in the third, but like you said, we've got to take some positives away from it," Connor said. "It was an emotional game with a lot of good things."
Connor scored on a wrist shot short side from the left circle to give the Jets a 1-0 lead at 3:48 of the first period.
Zuccarello responded 53 seconds later to tie it 1-1 after Jets defenseman Nate Schmidt poked a rebound to him in the right circle.
Connor's second of the game made it 2-1 at 8:17, but Eriksson Ek tied it 2-2 at 18:40 with a wraparound on the power play.
"I'm just trying to be around the net," Eriksson Ek said. "I always say it, but that's where it usually happens for me. Just trying to create chances by hanging around there and battling those [defensemen]."

Josh Morrissey put Winnipeg ahead 3-2 at 5:49 of the second period with a power-play goal.
Minnesota then tied it for the third time when Zuccarello was credited with the goal after Hellebuyck attempted to clear the puck from his crease at 16:59.
Pierre-Luc Dubois restored a 4-3 lead for Winnipeg when he scored on the power play at 4:19 of the third period, and Copp extended the lead to 5-3 at 6:37 when he took a pass from Mark Scheifele and shot just under the crossbar.
"I thought we did more action around the net and to the net, shots off the rush, lots of confidence shooting the puck tonight," Jets coach Paul Maurice said.
Marcus Foligno cut it to 5-4 with a power-play goal at 15:02.
"We wanted to win the first one at home and give our fans something to cheer about because it's been a long time without them," Foligno said. "Nothing better than picking right back up with a rivalry with Winnipeg. They're always a good team and they've got a lot of good players. They're trying to play physical. They haven't had two great games … so it was important to match their intensity and that's what you get. It's a lot of fun these games playing against rivals, and it's just nice to have that back."

With Talbot pulled for the extra attacker, Scheifele appeared to give the Jets a 6-4 lead at 18:46, but Wild coach Dean Evason challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.
"We couldn't see him off the far side," Evason said. "Actually, management, we were talking about it in the room and they said we never even thought about the guy on the off side and I don't think anybody did, but again, great call."
NOTE:Minnesota is 16-1-4 in its history in home openers.