Eriksson Ek, Kaprizov return to lead the Wild past the Sharks, 8-7 in overtime

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Joel Eriksson Ek scored a career-high four goals in his return from a lower-body injury, Kirill Kaprizov had his second of the game in overtime in his first game back and the Minnesota Wild outlasted the San Jose Sharks 8-7 on Wednesday night.

Minnesota moved into the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference when the St. Louis Blues lost at Edmonton in a late game. The Wild and Blues each have 93 points, with St. Louis having played one more game.

Eriksson Ek missed the previous 21 games. Kaprizov also returned from a lower-body injury after missing the last 28 games and 40 of the 43. He had surgery in late January.

Kaprizov — who also had an assist — scored his 25th goal of the season at 1:01 of overtime to end it after Will Smith tied it for San Jose with 52 seconds left in regulation.

Eriksson Ek gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead at 7:29 of the second, then scored three straight in a 2:18 span late in the second and early in the third to make it 7-4. His first three goals came on power plays.

Marcus Johansson and Brock Faber also scored for the Wild, and Matt Boldy had four assists. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots and broke a tie with Martin Brodeur for NHL regular-season OT victories with 70.

Rookie star Macklin Celebrini had three goals and two assists for San Jose, and Smith also had three assists. Tyler Toffoli, Carl Grundstrom and Nikolai Kovalenko also scored. Alexandar Georgiev made 36 saves.

Sharks: NHL-worst San Jose has lost six straight.

Wild: Eriksson Ek fell short of Marian Gaborik’s team record of five set Dec. 20, 2007 against the New York Rangers. To make room on the roster for Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov, forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore were sent to Iowa of the American Hockey League.

Kaprizov scored on overtime on a one-timer from the right side after a give-and-go play with Mats Zuccarello.

Minnesota was 3 for 4 on the power play, while San Jose didn't have a chance on with the man advantage.

The Sharks are at Edmonton on Friday night. The Wild have an Alberta back-to-back, playing on Calgary on Friday night and Edmonton on Saturday night.

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