Minnesota Wild defeat Dallas Stars in OT, end four-game skid and strengthen hold on playoff spot

Marcus Foligno was sick of motivational speeches — hearing and giving them, the Wild alternate captain’s voice hoarse.

“We’re in a crucial time of the year, and we gotta stop talking about it and how to do it,” Foligno said. “We just gotta show up and play.”

After a miserable road trip in which the Wild went winless to sink deeper into a once-unlikely playoff race, their actions finally spoke louder and matched the urgency of their situation: The Wild prevailed 3-2 in overtime against the rival Stars on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center to end their four-game slide and build a six-point lead over the Flames for the second wild card and final playoff berth in the Western Conference with four games to go in their regular season.

“We know we have it in here,” Foligno continued. “It’s just getting our head around it and doing it for a full 60 [minutes]. So, nice to see it show up, and we need it right now.”

Marco Rossi scored his third career overtime goal, redirecting in a Mats Zuccarello feed in Zuccarello’s 900th game through the Dallas defense only 58 seconds into the extra session during a 4-on-3 power play.

“Try to be open,” Rossi said, “and Zuccy is going to find you.”

The Wild trailed 1-0 on a Jason Robertson shot 5:51 into the first period, what goalie Filip Gustavsson called a “soft goal,” and didn’t put their rally in motion until the third period, but they were much improved from the lackluster 3-1 loss to the Islanders on Friday that capped a 0-1-2 trip to New Jersey and New York.

They tested goalie Jake Oettinger routinely, the Lakeville native finishing with 38 saves after the Wild eclipsed 40 shots for the first time since they put 44 on net vs. the Jets on Nov. 25.

“We didn’t veer off what we were doing,” coach John Hynes said. “We did it harder. We did it better. We did it more consistent, and we got rewarded for it.”

Only 3:08 into the third, Matt Boldy whacked in a loose puck from his knees for his team-leading 26th goal.

Then 1:52 later, Boldy parlayed a Declan Chisholm stretch pass to Rossi, who handed off to a net-crashing Foligno for the put-back of his own rebound.

“Me stopping on it helped maybe push Oettinger back a little bit, and I was a little bit worried that maybe my stick got on his pad or something,” said Foligno, who has four points during his past five games that included a promotion to the first line. “But it was a good feeling.”

Boldy also assisted on Rossi’s game-winner for a three-point performance, and he became only the fifth Wild player to record back-to-back 40-assist seasons.

“Bolds was definitely a difference-maker,” Foligno said.

So was the Wild penalty kill.

Although the Stars answered back at 13:05 of the third seconds after one of their power plays expired, the Wild went 4-for-4 — including a late kill in the period to preserve the 2-2 tie despite missing a go-to PKer in Jake Middleton.

The defenseman avoided a major injury when he was boarded by the Islanders’ Bo Horvat on Friday, but he didn’t play against Dallas and is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury; Cameron Crotty was recalled from the minors to give the team an extra on defense.

That Stars’ equalizer was a point shot from Thomas Harley that actually bounced in off the Wild’s Zach Bogosian.

“We’ve got to live through those,” Foligno said. “We’ve got to fight through those. Those are going to happen.”

BOXSCORE: Wild 3, Dallas 2 (OT)

NHL standings

Unlike the Islanders game, when Hynes sensed a dip after New York’s second goal, the Wild stayed sharp.

Gustavsson was airtight the rest of the way, totaling 23 stops, and Boldy had a key shot block against Mason Marchment.

“No passengers,” Boldy said. “Everyone was ready to go, and that’s the response you need after the week like we had. I think that’s more of the team that we’re used to and expect from each other.

“So, for us to go out there and play that way after kind of the struggles we’ve been going through, I think speaks a lot to a group.”

The Wild aren’t out of the woods yet, not when Calgary has two games in hand and the two teams square off Friday, but at least they control their own destiny.

“It’s been a grind,” Foligno said. “But we’re excited we’re in the driver’s seat still. Our fate’s in our hands.”