A youthful Wild lineup on Wednesday night overcame a three-goal hole and rallied for a 4-3 overtime win against St. Louis in what could have been the final opportunity for roster hopefuls to make their case.
The team is expected to rely on a more veteran look for its last two preseason games, starting Thursday against Chicago in St. Paul.
Adam Beckman scored 2 minutes, 19 seconds into overtime to complete a Gordie Howe hat trick after assisting on Nico Sturm's game-tying goal at 19:45 of the third period and fighting the Blues' Nathan Walker in the first.
BOXSCORE: Wild 4, St. Louis 3 (OT)
"[Dmitry Kulikov] made a great play leaving it for me, and I just kind of threw it on net," said Beckman, who has four goals in three preseason games. "So, it was kind of a gift for me and it's a great play by him and [Marco Rossi]."
Beckman, one of the prospects vying for a spot, was bloodied from the fight and left the game before returning in the second. He received a couple of stitches on his nose.
"He got hit hard," coach Dean Evason said. "His response was fantastic. Just kept playing."
All three St. Louis goals (Mackenzie MacEachern at 2:04; Walker at 4:30 and Robert Bortuzzo at 5:19) came on four shots in the first period. Victor Rask started the comeback on the power play 7:11 into the second before Brandon Duhaime scored with 3:53 left in the third. Kaapo Kahkonen made 17 saves.
