Blues score late in regulation, late in OT to beat Wild 3-2

ST. LOUIS – With a month to go in the regular season, the Wild still has plenty to figure out.

Although the team is currently occupying a playoff position with a sizeable lead and games at-hand over the teams chasing it, where the Wild ultimately ends up in the West Division is still up in the air.

What the lineup looks like when the team is at full strength is also a work in progress, as key players are out with injury.

But what could clear up most questions surrounding the team is if it stopped sending mixed messages.

After the Blues unloaded a franchise-record nine goals on the Wild Friday night in the most lopsided loss the team has ever had, the Wild was much cleaner Saturday at Enterprise Center despite falling 3-2 in overtime in its final game before the NHL trade deadline.

St. Louis captain Ryan O'Reilly scored on a backhand wraparound with 2 seconds to go in overtime, capping off a Blues rally after they tied the game 2-2 in the final minute of third period.

Over its last eight games, the Wild is 3-3-2 for one of its most inconsistent stretches of the season.

This irregularity hasn't harmed the team's situation in the standings; the Wild is tucked into third place with 51 points, seven ahead of No.4 St. Louis and eight up on No.5 Arizona. The Wild is also just three behind No.2 Vegas, making a climb to a better spot a realistic possibility.

But with each game a division battle, four-point swings are essentially what's at stake every night and the landscape can change quickly.

That's why the Wild's response to the 9-1 drubbing was important.

And two of the players who were idle for that blowout helped set the tone for the Wild.

Promoted from their seats as reserves, Nico Sturm and Joseph Cramarossa teamed up to give the Wild a 1-0 lead in the first period.

After Cramarossa nudged a puck loose at center ice, Sturm skated in for a breakaway and buried the puck behind Blues goalie Ville Husso at 18 minutes, 25 seconds for his fifth goal of the season in his first game back in the lineup after sitting out the previous two.

The assist for Cramarossa was his first point with the Wild.

Mike Hoffman tied it on the power play at 3:07 of the second, but the Wild didn't panic. And the team's composure was rewarded late in the second when it retaliated with its own power play marker.

Matt Dumba's blistering shot at 18:12 put the Wild back on top. The Wild finished 1-for-2, while the Blues went 1-for-3.

The power play goal was the first of the season for Dumba, and it reignited a unit that had been cruising before Friday's takedown. Over the last six games, the Wild has nine tallies on the power play to lead the NHL since April 1.

But the Wild couldn't hold on the rest of the way.

With 42 seconds to go in the third and Husso on the bench for an extra attacker, Hoffman's shot caromed in off traffic in front of goalie Cam Talbot to send the game to overtime where O'Reilly finished off the comeback after scoring a hat trick the previous game.

Husso ended up with 28 saves. Talbot had 27.

The Wild are still without Kevin Fiala, Nick Bjugstad and Marcus Foligno, all of whom are sidelined with injury.

When they're healthy enough to return, the Wild should get closer to realizing its potential.

And that's the crossroads the team is staring with 16 games to go, determining what it's truly capable of after recently swinging from one extreme to the next.