Minnesota Wild defenseman Marco Scandella (6) celebrates his goal in overtime against the Winnipeg Jets at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Jets 4-3 in overtime.Brace Hemmelgarn
Marco Scandella scored at 1:01 of overtime after missing two games with an illness to give the Minnesota Wild a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
Minnesota was reeling after blowing a 3-0 lead in the third period and getting outplayed by the scrappy Jets. But Scandella's third goal of the season — a low wrist shot from just inside the blue line that beat Michael Hutchinson — prevented the Wild from losing their second game this year after losing a three-goal lead.
Zach Parise scored two goals in his return from a concussion and helped give Minnesota a 3-0 lead after the first. But Winnipeg scored three goals in five minutes in the third to tie it and fire up the loud contingent of Jets fans.
Michael Frolik ended Niklas Backstrom's shutout bid at 5:55 with a wrist shot from the left side of the net. Then Evander Kane scored his second goal this season when his backhander from the bottom of the right circle bounced off Backstrom's pads and in between his legs at 8:19.
Less than three minutes later, Adam Pardy's shot from the point deflected off Andrew Ladd to make it 3-3.
Darcy Kuemper replaced Backstrom, who finished with 19 saves, after Ladd's goal. Kuemper stopped all three shots he faced.
Parise missed five games after suffering a concussion Nov. 4 against Pittsburgh. It didn't take long for him to give his team a lift — his first goal came at 4:11 of the first with Minnesota already up 1-0.
Parise's pass from the right circle caromed off Jets right wing Blake Wheeler past Ondrej Pavelec to make it 2-0. His second goal didn't come off his stick either. About 15 minutes later, Pavelec blocked Jared Spurgeon's shot, but the rebound hit off Parise's leg and went into the net to put the Wild up 3-0.
Nino Niederreiter, the Wild's leading goal scorer, gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead 2:07 into the game on a pretty wrap around that sent the puck around Pavelec's outstretched right leg and into the net.
Hutchinson replaced Pavelec to start the second period and finished with 15 saves.
Notes: Winnipeg went 0-for-8 on the power play including two 5 on 3s that lasted 36 and 47 seconds. . Winnipeg entered the game allowing an average of two goals per game, tied for second in the league. . Wild D Ryan Suter had a career-high eight penalty minutes after tallying four all season. . Parise still leads Minnesota in points (six goals, six assists) this season, despite missing five games.