Postgame Hat Trick: Islanders 3, Wild 2 (OT)

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 3-2 overtime loss against the New York Islanders at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Sunday night:

1. Minnesota grabbed one point, but probably deserved two.
Unfortunately for the Wild, it couldn't get it done in regulation, when it outshot the Islanders by a 34-19 margin. Minnesota was the far better team for the first 60 minutes, but in 3-on-3 overtime, it no longer matters.
New York won the opening draw in overtime and controlled the puck for most of the extra session. After a turnover, Mathew Barzal found Brock Nelson in front, who whistled a shot by Alex Stalock for the bonus point.
All in all, not a bad weekend for the Wild gaining 3 of a possible 4 points. It's on to division-rival Colorado now, as the Avs come to St. Paul on Tuesday as Minnesota finishes up a season-long five-game homestand.
2. Jared Spurgeon saves 'em, and he scores 'em.
In the first period, with the Wild down a goal, it appeared the Islanders were about to make it 2-0 as the puck was rolling through the blue paint and no goaltender there to stop it.
Enter Spurgeon, who has doubled as a goalie on several occasions over the years ... or so it seems. The defenseman calmly swooped in and corralled the puck before it could cross the goal line, keeping the Wild within one.

Then in the third period, with Minnesota again trailing by a goal, Spurgeon came to the rescue once again, pinching down the left wing boards and hammering a loose puck past goaltender Thomas Greiss for his 14th goal of the season, tying the game with just under 13 minutes to play in regulation.

3. On St. Patrick's Day, Zach Parise's second period goal came at a lucky time.
Remember the old adage about making at wish at 11:11? Well, No. 11 tallied his 25th of the season at 11:11 of the middle frame, which if you would have asked him in the moments before, likely would have been his wish.
Minnesota, which was trailing by a goal and was on its fifth power play, was in desperate need of a goal. Well, Parise's wish came true and the Wild knotted the game, ironically, at 1-1.

Parise's goal was actually the Wild's second of the period, as Ryan Donato appeared to knot the game up a few minutes earlier, but after a lengthy review, it was waved off for goaltender interference.
Bonus take: Congrats to the Minnesota Whitecaps on their Isobel Cup championship.
About 60 minutes before puck drop at Xcel Energy Center, the Whitecaps were finishing off a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Beauts to cap off an inaugural season championship in front of a packed house at TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center.
Lee Stecklein, the Roseville native and former Golden Gopher, wristed a shot from the point and through traffic for the game-winning goal just 49 seconds into overtime to lift the Whitecaps.

Amy Menke also scored a goal for Minnesota, which overcame a 1-0 deficit late in the first period after Emily Pgalzer's goal at 17:01 gave Buffalo an initial lead. Menke tied the game 82 seconds later and nobody scored again until Stecklein in the extra session.

The Whitecaps got 22 saves from goaltender (and former Beaut) Amanda Leveille.