GAME RECAP: Wild 4, Oilers 2

Edmonton outshoots Minnesota 43-20 on the night and 24-7 in the third period but the visitors tally three in the final frame to steal a win from the Blue & Orange

February 24, 2024

EDMONTON, AB – Matt Boldy buried a pair of goals to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 4-2 win over the Oilers on Friday at Rogers Place, despite the home team dominating shots 43-20.

The Oilers peppered Minnesota netminder Filip Gustavsson with an astounding 24 shots in the third period alone, but only Zach Hyman's power-play tally beat him, while the Wild put three past Calvin Pickard to win what was a tightly-contested 1-1 affair through 40 minutes.

Leon Draisaitl also scored on the PP in the middle frame and Connor McDavid assisted on both Edmonton goals, while Jonas Brodin and Mats Zuccarello lit the lamp for the Wild on top of Boldy's pair.

"I thought we did a lot of good things, but one thing I didn't think we did well was finish," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said after the loss. "There was a lot of pucks that either hit goal posts or trickled wide or were laying around the goal crease. Sometimes those go in, some nights they don't, and tonight I think we were unfortunate in that area."

The Oilers fall to the Wild 4-2 on Friday at Rogers Place

The Wild put a pair of pucks past Pickard in the opening 20 minutes, but fortunately for the Oilers only one of them ended up counting after the first goal was negated by an off-side challenge.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored what would have been his team-leading 29th of the season with a snipe over Pickard's blocker-side shoulder with 13:34 on the clock, but Edmonton immediately initiated a coach's challenge and, after a short review, the goal was called back due to Kirill Kaprizov going offside on the zone entry.

The Oilers PK that had been struggling since the all-star break with a league-worst 54.2 percent success rate got a much-needed kill in the latter half of the period after Warren Foegele put the puck over the glass for a delay-of-game infraction.

Pickard's best save of the opening frame came with four minutes to go as he darted out his right skate to deny a point-blank redirect by Frederick Gaudreau.

However, the Wild were able to beat him with 22.8 seconds remaining and this time the goal stuck as Boldy rifled a shot from the high slot that snuck under the netminder's glove.

Connor talks following the Oilers 4-2 defeat to the Wild

Minnesota's top line continued to cause problems for the Oilers in the middle frame as Evan Bouchard tripped Boldy in the corner with 14:13 on the clock after an extended shift in the Edmonton zone.

The PK got the job done again, though, starting the night three-for-three on kills after keeping the Wild off the board on an Evander Kane tripping minor earlier in the period.

The Oilers finally got their turn on the PP when Eriksson Ek held McDavid with 9:50 on the clock, and the home side took advantage as Draisaitl unleashed a one-timer from his go-to spot after a spinning backhand pass from the captain in the high slot to tie the game at 1-1.

Draisaitl's 28th tally of the season was also his 284th career power-play point, moving him past the legendary Mark Messier for sole possession of third place in Oilers franchise history.

Kris addresses the media after a 4-2 defeat to the Wild on Friday

McDavid also picked up his 15th assist in the last six games on the superb setup, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins collected the second helper in his return to action after missing Wednesday's game against the Boston Bruins with an illness.

Edmonton closed out the period with a fourth successful kill after Vincent Desharnais roughed up Boldy in front of the net.

"Credit to us for getting ourselves going there in the second," McDavid said. "I thought we were able to generate a little bit of our own momentum, and the PK helped with that."

"I thought we were a lot better in the second," Mattias Ekholm echoed. "We came out, we had some big kills, and then got on the offence and were all over them."

Draisaitl scores from his spot after a spinning McDavid setup

The Oilers continued their trend of third-period dominance in the early stages of the final frame, but the Wild withstood the onslaught and battled back with two quick goals to take a 3-1 advantage.

Brodin stepped into a slap shot that snuck past Pickard's glove just inside the far post with 10:28 remaining to put Minnesota up by one, and 2:47 later Boldy buried his second of the night on a slick setup by Ryan Hartman.

With 6:54 to go, McDavid drew another tripping penalty, this time on Declan Chisholm, to send the Oilers back to the PP where they would convert again to cut Minnesota's lead to one.

Hyman recorded his team-leading 35th goal of the season when he hammered home the rebound after a shot by Draisaitl that also included a McDavid assist for his 16th helper in six games.

Hyman has his 35th of the season with a power-play tally

The Oilers pulled Pickard for the extra attacker with two minutes to go, but Zuccarello's long-range attempt into the empty cage extended the Wild lead to 4-2 and rounded out the scoring.

According to Sportsnet Stats, McDavid hit three posts on Friday, which is tied for the most by any player in a game this season.

"If you want to be a good team, you've got to play all three periods, and we haven't done that in a bit here," McDavid said as the team has a 4-4-1 record since the all-star break.

The Oilers will be right back at it on Saturday when they host the third Battle of Alberta of the season. Edmonton has won both games thus far and will look to continue its provincial dominance.

Mattias talks following Friday's 4-2 loss to the Wild