ST. PAUL, Minn. _ The pregame scouting report on the Lightning issued by Wild coach Bruce Boudreau sounded grim.
"They're fast," he said. "They got superstars. They got great goaltending, and they got a Norris-Trophy defenseman. I think that's enough of a challenge for one night."
Boudreau wasn't exaggerating.
With those attributes, Tampa Bay has been proclaimed by some as a favorite to nab this season's Stanley Cup. But the team didn't look invincible Saturday.
Actually, it looked beatable, and it was, as the Wild persevered 5-4 in overtime in front of 19,080 at Xcel Energy Center to sweep a weekend back-to-back, extend its win streak to three games and embark on a four-day break with a 4-2-2 record.
Winger Mikael Granlund slung a shot through Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy 3 minutes, 43 seconds into the extra period.
Before that, Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman tied it at 4 at 15:02 of the third period after winger Jason Zucker walked into a one-timer that eluded Vasilevskiy just 1:49 earlier for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Although it took until the third for the Wild to secure a lead, signs of it overtaking the Lightning started to show in the second period after a sluggish start.
Lightning winger Ryan Callahan opened the scoring 2:23 after puck drop on a deflection off a Stralman shot. At 10:50, winger Yanni Gourde buried a rebound after Wild backup Alex Stalock turned aside a shot from defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
Only 2:33 later, the Wild cut that deficit in half when center Charlie Coyle finished off a strong forechecking effort by winger Nino Niederreiter that shuffled the puck to the front of the net.
But that momentum was quickly siphoned on an ensuing Wild penalty, a theme of the night.
Tampa Bay capitalized on the power play off another redirect _ this one from winger J.T. Miller with just 4:45 left in the first.
That lead, however, was in jeopardy all second period, with the Wild outshooting the Lightning 13-8.
Winger Marcus Foligno was the only one to convert, sliding a backhand around Vasilevskiy's left pad 3:49 into the frame for his first goal of the season, but the Wild had plenty of chances to tie it.
Vasilevskiy was the difference.
Center Eric Fehr had two of the better looks; his first was batted away by Vasilevskiy's glove while another attempt soon after was kicked out by Vasilevskiy's pad. Tampa Bay's netminder also made a clutch stop in tight on Granlund.
Again, though, penalties interrupted this possession time. The Lightning had three more power plays in the second but blanked on all three to finish 1-for-5.
It wasn't until the third period that the Wild finally earned their first opportunity with the man advantage, but they couldn't connect against a potent Lightning penalty kill that improved to a perfect 25-for-25 on the season after being shorthanded twice.
But only three seconds after its second chance expired, the Wild tied it at 3 when winger Zach Parise poked in a loose puck in the crease _ Parise's second goal in as many games.
Once Zucker pushed the Wild ahead, it looked like that might be enough to hold off the Lightning but the team had to snag the extra point in overtime for the second time this season.
Vasilevskiy totaled 29 saves, while Stalock had 27.
