While keeping Ovechkin six goals away from passing Gretzky, the Wild rallied to win 4-2 Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center and pick up a much-needed pair of points with nine games to go in the regular season.

Frederick Gaudreau scored twice, while Matt Boldy set up the equalizer and then split a 2-2 tie with nine seconds left in the second period with his team-leading 24th goal. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves to help the Wild avoid finishing the toughest stretch of their week (Dallas, Vegas and Washington) empty-handed.

That meant they prevented St. Louis from closing the gap for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, a seeding that’s up for grabs after the Wild were blanked 3-0 by the Stars on Monday and then fell 5-1 to the Golden Knights on Tuesday.

With the Capitals atop the NHL, this was arguably the Wild’s most challenging test of the three, especially with Ovechkin approaching Gretzky’s 894 goals.

But the Wild were ready from the get-go and capitalized first when, at 6 minutes of the first period, Jon Merrill unleashed a point shot by Justin Brazeau, who was setting a screen in front of goalie Charlie Lindgren.

Washington responded quickly.

Only 1:08 after Merrill’s tally, Matt Roy sent a rising shot by Gustavsson. Then 1:41 after that, former Wild forward Brandon Duhaime deposited a Nic Dowd handoff into the Wild net.