ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jared Spurgeon scored on a give-and-go 1:24 into overtime and the Minnesota Wild recovered to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 and provide Marc-Andre Fleury with a victory in his Minnesota debut Saturday night.
Fleury, the three-time Stanley Cup winner who has the fourth-most playoff wins in NHL history, stopped 23 shots for Minnesota, which won its fifth straight game.
Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, including a tying goal with 1:03 left in the third period to put the game into overtime. The Wild are three points ahead of St. Louis for second in the Central Division after the Blues lost at home to Carolina.
Jake Bean and Jakub Voracek scored for Columbus, and Elvis Merzlikins made 35 saves.
Fleury’s debut, following a trade-deadline deal that sent a conditional 2022 first-round draft pick to Chicago, was a bit delayed as he sat the past two games while Cam Talbot posted a pair of wins.
Fleury, the 37-year-old former Vezina Trophy winner, wasn’t tested much early. Columbus didn’t register it’s first shot until almost five minutes in the game and Minnesota outshot the Blue Jackets 14-8 in the first period.
Kaprizov put the Wild ahead with a power-play goal midway through the first. Mats Zuccarello sent a pass from behind the net to the opposite side where Kaprizov was able to sneak a quick shot past Merzlikins from a tough angle.
Kaprizov has 11 goals and six assists in his last 14 games. He equaled Brian Rolston for the second-most points in a single season in team history with 79. Only Marian Gaborik had more with 83 in 2007-08.
Zuccarello set a career best with his 45th assist. He has a career-high 63 points, including 11 in his past 11 games.
Bean and Voracek turned the game in Columbus’ favor in the second. Bean was credited with his fifth goal of the season and first in 25 games after a scrum in front of Fleury. Fleury sprawled out to try and make the save but appeared to kick the puck in with the back of his skate.
Voracek scored his fifth of the season with 1:05 left in the period with a big shot from right in front of Fleury.
WERENSKI INJURED
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury and didn’t return. Werenski, who has 10 goals and 32 assists this season, took a big hit from Minnesota defenseman Jacob Middleton.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Return home against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Wild: Talbot will be back in net as Minnesota hosts division-leading Colorado on Sunday.
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