Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 4, Ducks 3 (OT)

On Tuesday night, the Wild scored a 4-3 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Wild.com's Dan Myers provides three takeaways in the Postgame Hat Trick, presented by Associated Bank. Learn more on how to score up to $500 by opening a Wild Checking account.

1. Not pretty, but effective.
It has been a marathon homestand for the Wild, who played its sixth consecutive game at Xcel Energy Center on Friday night. The first five have come against teams headed to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including each of the last two against the West Division's top team, the Vegas Golden Knights.
With all due respect to the Anaheim Ducks, they aren't quite on that level this season. In fact, after Saturday's game between the clubs in downtown St. Paul, the Ducks will head back to SoCal and be done until next fall.

Credit Anaheim for not going away quietly, however.
Joel Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 3-2 lead with under 10 minutes to play in regulation, and it would have been easy for Aneheim to slink away into the St. Paul night. But Derek Grant tied the game a few minutes later and forced the Wild into a late battle into the night, forcing overtime.
Once there, Kirill Kaprizov did Kirill Kaprizov things, scoring his 27th goal of the season - and second career overtime winner - banging home his own rebound 17 seconds into the bonus sesh.
2. The forgotten rookie strikes again.
Consider it a late birthday present, but Nico Sturm scored a goal on Friday night, four days after celebrating turning 26 years of age.
With the likely Calder Trophy winner residing in the same locker room, and another Calder contender also in the mix, Sturm has quietly played the part of third wheel when it comes to who has had the best rookie campaign on the team.

But hey, the guy has 10 goals this season and has taken advantage of his first full-time NHL opportunity.
That's pretty solid for a guy averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time per game. Per Wild PR maven Megan Kogut, Sturm's six goals over his past 14 games since April 10 ranks fourth among all rookie scorers during that span.
Sturm also entered the night boasting a plus-12, a number that ranked fifth on the team overall and third among forwards.
3. Home again, one more time.
The Wild will conclude its home schedule on Saturday night with a game against these very same Ducks.
And while a division title is a long-shot, the Wild still has plenty to play for. Like the second seed and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, a series that's looking more and more like it will be against the Colorado Avalanche.

Minnesota began the night a point behind Colorado, which was playing itself in Los Angeles on Friday night without Nathan MacKinnon, its best player.
The Avs have a game in hand, but the Wild is still very much in that home-ice mix. And that extra point on Friday night could end up being a big deal.