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

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 4-3 overtime loss against the Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Monday night:

1. It was a late rally for the Kings, that trumped a rally of the Wild.
After Joel Eriksson Ek gave Minnesota its first lead of the game late in regulation, L.A. tied the game with its net empty on a goal by Dustin Brown.

In overtime, Jeff Carter buried his second of the night with 33.8 seconds left in the extra session, providing the Kings with an extra point in the standings.
The Wild now heads into a four-day respite with 90 points, which means it can't be passed by Colorado for third place during that stretch.
2. Minnesota dug out of a two-goal second-period deficit.
It's often been said, but it bears repeating: teams coming in off the road often struggle to find their legs early in their first game back. The reason why is sometimes unclear, but it's not just a Wild thing, it's a League-wide trend.
After playing a pair of games in the Pacific Time Zone over the weekend and returning to the Twin Cities on Sunday afternoon, Minnesota was sluggish at the start.
Tanner Pearson scored with 1:03 remaining in the first period and Carter made it 2-0 6:21 into the second.
But the Wild found its legs and began pushing, first getting a beauty of a goal from Zach Parise, who waited out Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick from the high slot into the left circle before snapping a shot past the outstretched goalie at 12:08.

Eric Staal's goal knotted it up with 56 ticks left in the second, setting the stage for a third-period duel with the teams even.
3. Staal's goal with under a minute remaining in the second period tied the game and made some history.
For Staal, it was his 39th goal of the season, which puts him alone in second place on the Wild's single-season goal list, three behind Marian Gaborik's team record.
It also pulls Staal one closer to his first 40-goal season in nearly a decade. He last accomplished the feat as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2008-09.
The goal was a beauty too, set up by a home-run pass by defenseman Ryan Suter, who sent a pass 100 feet up the rink hitting Staal in stride to set him loose all alone against Quick. With Quick aggressively out of the blue paint, Staal let a shot fly from the top of the circles, beating Quick far side.

The helper was Suter's 43rd of the season, tying his career best, which was also a Wild franchise record back in 2015-16.
Matt Dumba also assisted on the goal, becoming the third Wild defenseman to reach 30 assists in a single season (Suter five times, Marek Zidlicky twice).
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