Predators 6, Wild 5 (OT): Defenseman Mattias Ekholm walked out from behind the net and beat Niklas Backstrom to the stick side from the slot 1:45 into overtime as visiting Nashville outlasted Minnesota.

Matt Cullen, Craig Smith and blue-liner Roman Josi each recorded a goal and an assist for the Predators, who began their three-game road trip with their fourth win in five overall contests. Rookies Calle Jarnkrok and Filip Forsberg also scored and Pekka Rinne turned aside 22 shots.

Zach Parise collected two goals and an assist while defenseman Marco Scandella and Thomas Vanek both added one of each for the Wild, who fell to 0-0-2 on their four-game homestand with their second straight overtime loss. Jason Zucker also tallied and Darcy Kuemper allowed three goals on 14 shots in one period before being replaced by Backstrom, who made 27 saves.

Zucker kicked off a five-goal first period 70 seconds in as he got ahead of a defender in the slot and converted a feed from Jason Pominville. Jarnkrok evened things at 4:37, walking to the net from the left-wing boards and deking around Kuemper to slide the puck in, but Coyle's backhander deflected off Parise and past Rinne two minutes later for a 2-1 edge.

Cullen and Smith scored later in the session to put Nashville ahead before Scandella knocked his own rebound past a pile of bodies in the crease during a power play 7:18 into the second to forge a tie. Forsberg broke the deadlock 1:48 into the third and Josi drilled a shot from above the left circle past Backstrom at 9:05 for a man-advantage tally, but Parise added one of his own less than two minutes later and Vanek put in his own rebound with 48 seconds left to knot it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nashville LW James Neal missed the contest due to an illness while D Anton Volchenkov sat out with a lower-body injury. ... Rinne allowed more than three goals for the first time since Nov. 13, when he yielded four in a loss at St. Louis. ... LW Matt Cooke (hip) and C Ryan Carter (upper body) returned to the lineup after missing 22 and three games, respectively. ... Ds Shea Weber and Victor Bartley each notched two assists for Nashville, while Pominville, C Charlie Coyle and D Ryan Suter did the same for Minnesota.