ST. PAUL, Minn. — Alex Ovechkin didn’t get any closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, but the Wild made progress in their chase of a playoff berth.

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.

The Wild challenged to check for goaltender interference — Dowd was in front of Gustavsson as he passed off to Duhaime — but the goal stood. To make matters worse for the Wild, they were also charged with a delay-of-game penalty, but they survived the ensuing Capitals power play and went 2 for 2 on the penalty kill.

Washington didn’t ease up in the second, and Ovechkin had plenty of looks.

After he had a deflection go wide in the first and a few tries at the post, Ovechkin was denied on the aforementioned power play while continuing to wind up. He also had the puck pried off him by Jonas Brodin in the third period during an attempted breakaway to stay at 889 goals with 10 games left in the Capitals’ regular season.

“It’s something to watch, for sure,” said Duhaime, who signed with Washington last summer after the Wild traded him to Colorado a year ago. “Just a privilege to be sitting front seat to it every night and seeing what he does and how great of a person he is. It’s been a really cool journey.”

Ovechkin had 11 shot attempts and two hits while skating 19:03, the Capitals captain praising the Wild’s Russian star before the game.

“He’s a top player, obviously, when he’s healthy,” Ovechkin said of Kirill Kaprizov. “Always fun to watch highlights of him.”

Although Kaprizov wasn’t in action Thursday, he was on the ice earlier in the day.

He and Joel Eriksson Ek have resumed skating as they continue to recover from their lower-body injuries. Neither’s return is imminent, coach John Hynes said, with both considered week-to-week.

The Wild did get Marcus Foligno back after he sat out five games hurt, but the comeback was led by Boldy, who has seven points in his past six games.

His shot on the power play (1 for 2) was deflected in by Gaudreau at 12:25 of the second period for a 2-2 tie that lasted until the final minute of the period when he corralled a Marco Rossi pass with one hand on his stick and then lifted the puck over Lindgren.

Gaudreau flipped the puck into an empty net with 1:21 remaining to cap off his two-goal night.

Lindgren, a Lakeville native who is still seeking his first career victory against the Wild, had 17 saves.

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