Austin Watson

Spurgeon's OT winner leads Wild past Predators 3-2 (Dec 27, 2016)

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:19 p.m. ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A three-day break did not stop the surging Wild.

Jared Spurgeon scored the game-winner at 2:46 of overtime to give Minnesota a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Jordan Schroeder carried the puck up on the right side and slid a cross-ice pass to Spurgeon, and he beat Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne with a one-timer.

''You can see when (Schroeder) is playing well, he is using his speed and he is confident with the puck, and that's what he was tonight,'' Spurgeon said. ''I just tried to stay ready and get it off as quick as I could.''

With Nashville forward Colin Wilson a step behind in pursuit, Schroeder, who posted a pair of assists in the game, took a quick look to his left and saw a gap between Spurgeon and Predators defenseman Roman Josi.

''Coming across the blue line, I saw the lane there, and anytime you can make the goalie move, and (Spurgeon) obviously got the shot off quick, that's really hard to defend,'' Schroeder said. ''I was thinking go to the net, but he gave me the lane, so I took it.'

Zach Parise and Chris Stewart also scored for Minnesota, which extended its franchise-best winning streak to 11 games.

''To me, you have to go for it, you get the opportunity, you've got to go for the win rather than hope you're hanging on,'' Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. ''We did that tonight.''

Filip Forsberg and Reid Boucher scored for Nashville, which has lost two straight.

The Predators are 0-3 in games decided in the 3-on-3 overtime this season and 2-15 since the format was introduced at the start of last season.

''Last year we were struggling a lot, but we've been doing a lot of good things,'' Forsberg said of the team's lack of success in the 3-on-3. ''We have a lot of chances. This game was kind of back and forth.''

Parise scored the game's first goal at 5:53 of the opening period when he deflected Matt Dumba's slap shot from the blue line past Rinne, who finished with 36 saves.

Parise missed Minnesota's last two games prior to the Christmas break with an illness.

Nashville has surrendered the first goal in eight of its last nine games.

Forsberg tied it at 1 at 4:39 of the second.

From the left boards, Ryan Johansen sent a pass to Forsberg in the slot, where he snapped a wrist shot just inside the post on Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk's glove side.

Dubnyk, a former Predator, had 28 saves in the victory.

Minnesota regained the lead 1:22 later on Stewart's sixth of the season. The goal was a result of a sequence of quick passes from Schroeder to Eric Staal and then from Staal to Stewart all alone in the slot, where he beat Rinne.

Boucher's first goal as a Predator tied it at 2 at 8:55 of the second.

Austin Watson's long stretch pass send Boucher into the Minnesota zone on a breakaway. With Spurgeon on his back, Boucher was able to slip a backhand between Dubnyk's pads for his first of the season.

''I thought in the second period we did a good job of coming out and tying up the game, still we were pressing,'' Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. ''They scored a quick one to give them the lead, but then we continued to push and tied it up.''

Nashville claimed Boucher from the New Jersey Devils off of waivers Dec. 3 and recalled him from a conditioning assignment with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League Dec. 23.

Notes: Forsberg has three goals in his last four games. ... Predators D P.K. Subban missed his 5th consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Musician Peter Frampton attended the game. ... Staal has at least one point in eight straight games.

UP NEXT:

Wild: Returns home to face the Islanders Thursday

Predators: Face Chicago at home Thursday