Brett Howden scored 4:05 into overtime Tuesday night to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild and put Vegas one game away from advancing out of the Western Conference first round.

The wild-card berth has suited Minnesota well.

If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason.

There were plenty of goals scored in the NHL on Wednesday night and four players accounted for a bulk of them.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored a career-high four goals in his return from a lower-body injury, Kirill Kaprizov had his second of the game in overtime in his first game back and the Minnesota Wild outlasted the San Jose Sharks 8-7 on Wednesday night.

Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek scored on a strong night for the second line, Mats Zuccarello added a power-play goal and the Minnesota Wild opened the season by beating former coach Dean Evason and the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.

The scoring binge the NHL has been on the last few seasons spread to Minnesota with hat tricks for Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov in a record-filled 10-7 win over Vancouver.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each had hat tricks and three assists for the Minnesota Wild, who faced a three-goal deficit in the second period before storming back with six unanswered goals and hanging on for a record-filled 10-7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of second place with his 552nd career win in the NHL.

Brock Faber got his first NHL goal in the first period and Filip Gustavsson stopped 41 shots for a season-opening shutout as the Minnesota Wild beat the Florida Panthers 2-0.

Tyler Seguin scored two power-play goals and Jake Oettinger made 33 saves to help the Dallas Stars bounce back from a lopsided loss and beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in Game 4 to even their first-round NHL playoff series.

Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek was scratched for Game 4 of their first-round NHL playoff series against Dallas because of an injury that cut short his Game 3 after just one shift.

The Minnesota Wild have delivered a forceful and punishing performance to take the first-round NHL playoff series lead from the Dallas Stars.

Kirill Kaprizov had a hat trick and Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice for the Minnesota Wild, who snapped back at the St. Louis Blues with a 6-2 victory to even their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin has been suspended four games for cross-checking Nashville's Mark Borowiecki in the face.

The Minnesota Wild are preparing to play in the NHL's Winter Classic for the first time.

Jordan Greenway scored twice and the Minnesota Wild beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 for their eighth straight win.

Vegas forward Ryan Reaves was suspended two games by the NHL for his roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct on Colorado’s Ryan Graves during the Golden Knights’ 7-1 loss in Game 1 of their second-round series Sunday.

Mattias Janmark notched his first career hat trick as the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 6-2 win in Game 7 of their opening-round series.

Reilly Smith capped a three-goal second-period surge by the Vegas Golden Knights with the go-ahead score in a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has stopped 63 of 65 shots from the Minnesota Wild over the first two games of their West Division playoff series.

Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal at 3:20 of overtime lifted the Minnesota Wild past the Vegas Golden Knights 1-0 in Game 1 of their first-round series.