ST. PAUL, Minn. _ The Wild tried shots in tight, at the post and farther back from the slot.
They were mostly wind-ups, as pucks flew from all different directions at Sharks goalie Martin Jones.
But amid all those attempts, 77 in total, a deflection and wrap-around were the ones that tumbled into the net to spark a 3-2 overtime comeback for the Wild on Sunday in front of 19,105 at Xcel Energy Center that extended the team's win streak to four games _ which ties their season-high.
Defenseman Jared Spurgeon one-timed a feed from winger Jason Zucker to cap off the rally with 12 seconds left in the extra period and give the Wild a three-point lead over the Stars for the No. 3 seed in the Central Division.
Jones was still stellar, turning in 38 saves to continue his impressive play of late. Before facing the Wild, Jones posted a 1.89 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in his previous 10 games _ a stretch in which he ranked fourth in the NHL in both categories among goalie who had logged at least three games.
Not until the Wild's 19th shot of the second period and 29th of the game did Jones finally surrender a goal, as Spurgeon skated into the zone and his throw toward the net from along the right wall was redirected by center Matt Cullen with only 44 seconds remaining in the period. Spurgeon and Zucker each finished with two points apiece.
The goal cut the Wild's deficit in half to 2-1 and further stoked the edge they held amid such a dominating period in terms of the shot clock.
And with 4:44 remaining in the third, the team evened it at 2 after center Eric Staal stuffed the puck by Jones on a wrap-around. It was the sixth time in Staal's career he's reached the 30-goal plateau. The Wild finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Sharks were 0-for-1.
Falling behind didn't look like a major issue for the Wild _ especially after they climbed out of holes in wins over the Islanders and Devils on their road trip.
San Jose tallied its first 14 minutes into the first period when defenseman Joakim Ryan was left all alone to one-time the puck past goalie Devan Dubnyk after receiving a pass from winger Jannik Hansen as the Sharks transitioned into the Wild's zone.
Only 2:28 into the second, San Jose doubled its lead after a center-ice turnover by defenseman Mike Reilly gave the Sharks room to orchestrate a two-on-rush that center Chris Tierney finished with a backhander over Dubnyk _ who ended up with 26 saves.
Jones essentially took over after that.
After a highlight-reel stop at the end of the first period in which his skate blade appeared to stop a cut to the middle by winger Jason Zucker, Jones managed to be even better in the second.
He slid to the back post in time to get a pad save on a Joel Eriksson Ek attempt and somehow got a piece of an Eric Staal one-timer from the middle before also frustrating winger Mikael Granlund in tight.
Eventually, though, the Wild's persistence paid off.
Aside from the 41 shots the Wild tested Jones with, the team had another 24 shots blocked and 12 miss the net.
