Nail-biter turns to jubilation as Wild rally to clinch playoff spot, beat Ducks in OT

The journey here didn’t have to be this tough.

Had the Wild stayed on the trajectory that lifted them to one of the best starts in franchise history and atop the NHL into mid-December while Kirill Kaprizov was the early MVP favorite, they would have reached their destination much sooner.

Instead, they were gutted by injuries — most noticeably Kaprizov’s — and their play dipped.

“It was up and down like crazy,” defenseman Jake Middleton said. “There was times we thought the world was ending. There was times we thought that we’d already won the league.”

In a season whose mantra has been “choose your hard,” the Wild didn’t choose this for themselves.

But nonetheless, they persisted.

They soared and stumbled, toiling through the tunnel vision that blocked out the trials and tribulations.

And when it was time to look up, they still arrived where they intended, making it back to the playoffs.

After rallying 3-2 in overtime against the Anaheim Ducks during their regular-season finale Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild finally booked their return after a one-year hiatus and locked in a first-round matchup vs. Vegas, where they will be the underdog to extend the redemption story that isn’t over yet.

“Kind of like how the season has been going, right?” winger Marcus Foligno said. “Just grind, grind, grind and right to the end. Yeah, just excited to be in the playoffs.”

Winger Matt Boldy scored with 18 seconds left in 3-on-3 action after center Joel Eriksson Ek buried his own rebound with 22 seconds left in the third period to guarantee the Wild (45-30-7) the point they needed to secure the first wild card in the Western Conference on their own accord (with 97 points) rather than needing the Blues or Flames to lose. With the point secured, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made the final regular-season appearance of his long career, coming off the bench to stop five shots in overtime.

“For sure, it felt good to see that puck go in,” Eriksson Ek said of his goal that sealed the Wild’s 11th postseason appearance in the past 13 seasons and 14th in franchise history.

Game times for the Vegas series have not been set.

The Wild and Anaheim were in a stalemate after Marcus Johansson wristed a shot by goalie Lukas Dostal, who finished with 37 saves, at 9:47 of the first period and the Ducks’ Alex Killorn got on the end of a bouncing puck 4:01 later.

Sam Colangelo broke the 1-1 tie when he backhanded in a 2-on-1 pass 8:45 into the third, a deficit that didn’t disappear until the final minute while goaltender Filip Gustavsson (22 saves) was on the bench for an extra attacker.

“[Dostal] made a great save on the first jam, but Ek’s got more want than he does, right, at this point in the year,” Middleton said.

Before overtime started, Gustavsson asked coach John Hynes if the team could replace him with Fleury.

“Great idea,” Hynes said.

BOXSCORE: Wild 3, Anaheim 2 (OT)

NHL standings

In potentially the last appearance of his NHL career, Fleury picked up a record-extending 71st overtime victory and 575th win overall in his 1,051st game.

“Little shocked,” said Fleury, who was the only star of the game. “Little worried. I’d been sitting there for a few hours. A good talk from Gus and obviously Hynes let me go in, too.

“I’m happy I got to go play just a little bit more at home.”

The Wild went 0-for-2 on the power play while Anaheim was 0-for-1 after blanking in overtime against Fleury, who managed to cram his trademarks — a poke check, stacking the pads and thanking the post — in his 4:42 of action.

“It was fun just to go one more time out there and play the game I love,” said Fleury, who was teary-eyed as he mentioned not taking any day for granted and making the most of a career that’s gone by so fast. “That was cool.”

Boldy’s finish was his fourth career OT goal and 10th game-winner this season, a franchise record that’s tied for second in the NHL.

“We played so many close games, grinding and trying to get some points along the way and never quitting,” Fleury said. “That’s something I love about this team.”

As if the Wild not clinching until their last game wasn’t symbolic enough for how roundabout their season has been, their health doubled down on that fact.

This was the first time the Wild had everyone available since Nov. 10.

“That’s insane,” Fleury said.

The following 66 games became the real-life version of Whack-a-Mole: When someone would heal, someone else would get hurt.

It’s easier to identity who didn’t get injured. Boldy, Frederick Gaudreau and Marco Rossi are the only players to appear in all 82 games, while Jonas Brodin, captain Jared Spurgeon, Mats Zuccarello, Eriksson Ek and Middleton all had significant absences.

But no injury stung the Wild more than Kaprizov’s, the superstar’s lower-body injury sabotaging his MVP candidacy and dropping the Wild into gut-check territory in January when Kaprizov was shut down for surgery.

They stayed afloat initially but once Eriksson Ek was out, too, their margin of error shrunk, and the Wild struggled to outscore their mistakes — as few as they might be.

A goal shortage is what ultimately ate away at their lead in the standings, sinking them into a wild-card race that came down to the wire even with Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek back.

They returned for the final four games, combining for seven goals and two assists.

“We got a lot of fight in this room,” Middleton said, “and that’s what it’s been all year.”

Middleton and Spurgeon suited up Tuesday after their latest injuries, with Middleton missing four games after getting boarded April 4 vs. the New York Islanders and Spurgeon getting hit in the neck last Friday against Calgary and sitting out Saturday at Vancouver.

Spurgeon clarified it was an elbow, not a puck, that caught him in the neck.

“Everything started to spin, and balance was sort of gone and stuff was starting to blur,” he said. “So, obviously a little panic for a bit there, not really sure what’s going on. I’m just happy with the way it’s recovered.”

Not only are the Wild finally at full strength, but they have Zeev Buium on standby.

The defenseman didn’t make his NHL debut in the finale after leaving the University of Denver and signing with the Wild, a decision indicative of what was at stake for the Wild but also giving Buium more time to adjust to a team that has more hockey to play after adding another nail-biting effort to their already gutsy run.

“It’s fitting,” Foligno said. “We get everyone back at the best time of the year. The way we climbed that mountain of injuries and tough losses and goal droughts ... it’s exciting.”