The scoring punch the Minnesota Wild have been sorely lacking made a timely and triumphant appearance following the long-awaited return of vital forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov from their long-term injuries.

Kirill Kaprizov scored 1:01 into overtime, Joel Eriksson Ek netted four goals and the Minnesota Wild escaped with an 8-7 win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minn. Both players celebrated remarkable returns from prolonged lower-body-injury absences for Minnesota (43-29-7,

ST. PAUL - Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek had missed the last 21 games with a lower-body injury. He had played only 42 games on the hearing coming into game 79 for the team. They are 28-12-3 with him in the lineup and are 15-17-4 without him in the lineup.