The Timberwolves blew a 12-point lead, survived getting outscored 40-25 in the third quarter and overcame a five-point deficit in the final 3:41 by outscoring New York 10-3 down the stretch.
Fourth-seeded Los Angeles will hit the road to face the second-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, with the winner advancing to the NFC Championship Game
After initially ruling no goal on the ice, the officials deliberated for an eternity, then consulted with the league before overturning the original call.
“I’m very, very proud of the way we competed,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “If that could have ended in a tie, that would have been better. But we did enough things to have success.”
Karl-Anthony Towns did a lot of the heavy lifting for Minnesota (21-22) through the first three frames. The center finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes.
Minnesota was without defensive coordinator Elston Turner and strategy guru Micah Nori for a stretch of games, and is currently sans offensive coordinator Pablo Prigioni.
