Minnesota Wild win 5th straight, 5-4 over Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- — Dmitry Kulikov scored with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a 5-4 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday night.

Joel Eriksson Ek had two power-play goals and an assist, Nick Bjugstad and Kevin Fiala also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for Minnesota. The Wild have won five straight as they battle with the St. Louis Blues for second place in the Central Division and home ice for the teams’ first-round playoff series.

“It’s just a real good all-around game,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “We did so many really good things in that hockey game that allowed us to have that opportunity to win.”

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Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, and Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen and Dante Fabbro also scored for Nashville. David Rittich made 42 saves and Mikael Granlund had three assists for the Predators, who have lost three of four but remain in the top wild-card position in the Western Conference. Nashville moved one point ahead of Dallas in the standings.

Wild winger Matt Boldy had an assist, extending his career-high point-scoring streak to nine games. The stretch is a rookie franchise record for Minnesota.

Up next the Wild will host Arizona on Tuesday, beginning a three-game homestand to close out the regular season.