MN Wild Snag Insane OT Win in Controversial Fashion

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NHL: Nashville Predators at Minnesota Wild
Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Wild are in the process of getting their 2025-26 season back on track, after a two-week stretch of eight losses in nine games to close out October nearly sent it into a tailspin before they ever got up in the air.

So coming off a win over the weekend against Vancouver, the Wild went into their game Tuesday night against the division rival Nashville Predators desperate to start up a different kind of streak. And for 59 minutes and 59.9 seconds, it felt like Minnesota would do just that, even though they got outplayed for much of the night.

Minnesota Wild vs Nashville Predators starts kinda slow

At the 10:44 mark of the 1st period, it was the MN Wild who scored first on a (surprise) Kirill Kaprizov power play goal that made the score 1-0, early.

Then, after the Preds tied it at 1-1 early in the 2nd period (05:16), the home Wild took control back, via tip-in goal from rookie Zeev Buium, off a point shot from fellow youngster defenseman, Brock Faber. You love to see it.

For the next period-plus, Minnesota shakily held their 2-1 lead. Naturally, with a couple minutes left Nashville pulled goalie Justus Annunen. After the Wild missed an open net twice from long-range, the Predators spent the final 47 seconds of regulation in the MN zone, firing at Filip Gustavsson.

Still, when Joel Eriksson Ek got control of the puck and turned to fire it out of danger with just 4 seconds remaining on the clock, a Wild victory felt all but official… until it wasn’t.

Preds tie game with 0.02 remaining in regulation

Ek failed to get his clearing attempt off the boards and beyond Preds’ defenseman Nick Blankenburg, who got control of the puck, waited a moment, then passed cross-ice to the left slot where Steven Stamkos was waiting for a one-timer that blew past Gustavsson with 0.02 seconds remaining.

Related: MN Wild Nearly Dead Last in Early Power Rankings

To the Wild’s credit, this could have been the demoralizing type of goal that cost Minnesota its much needed winning streak. But that’s not what happened.

In overtime, the chances went back and forth for a few minutes, until Minnesota got a breakaway at the 3:30 mark that lead to one of the crazier finishes you will see in a National Hockey League game.

Insane end to Wild vs Preds regulation leads to even crazier overtime finale

After a Marcus Johansson takeaway, the Wild came down 3-on-2 with Kaprizov leading the rush from the right side. He passed middle to Brock Faber. He then skated through the slot before going back to Kaprizov, who then went back across the front of the crease to Marcus Johansson, who tried to flip it into the left side of the goal.

Unfortunately, the Nashville goal was no longer parallel with the red line, because as Kaprizov’s pass came across, it was knocked off its left mooring. So when Johansson got the puck, the back of the net was actually in the process of swinging toward him.

Johansson’s first shot attempt hit the outside of the spinning net and bounced back to him, so he went to his backhand and floated it passed the red line, where there was no longer a goal in place to catch it. Nonetheless, the referee immediately signaled a Minnesota Wild goal, as the puck hit the boards behind where the net should have been.

The referee crew reviewed the play but didn’t take long to confirm the call on the ice. Essentially, NHL rule 25.2 states that, if a net is knocked off its mooring (intentionally or accidentally) during an imminent scoring opportunity, like Johansson’s above, a goal will be awarded.

Minnesota Wild winning goal explained

Former Minnesota Wild player, now Nashville Predators coach, Andrew Brunette, sat dumbfounded on the away bench, as the crowd went crazy and Wild players celebrated on the ice. Even if he didn’t know the rule, he could not have been all that surprised by this call.

If it wasn’t a goal, it had to be a penalty shot or something. Common sense says that you shouldn’t be able to displace the net when an opponent is about to score. Fortunately for the MN Wild, the NHL rulebook says the same thing.

  • 25.2 Infractions – When a Goalkeeper is On the Ice – A goal will be awarded when an attacking player, with an imminent scoring opportunity, is prevented from scoring as a result of a defending player or goalkeeper displacing the goal post, either deliberately or accidentally.
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