Goalie Talbot returns, Oilers cool off WIld
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Second-period goals by Milan Lucic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins helped the Edmonton Oilers cool off the Minnesota Wild on Saturday afternoon. Edmonton notched a 3-2 win over Minnesota, snapping the Wild's four-game win streak.
Goalie Cam Talbot, who had missed the previous seven games with an undisclosed injury, backstopped the victory with 29 saves for Edmonton (14-17-2), which got the third-period game-winner from Jesse Puljujarvi. Defenseman Matt Dumba scored twice for the Wild (17-12-3) and Alex Stalock had 26 saves but Minnesota lost a regulation game at home for the first time since Nov. 4.
The Oilers notched 10 of the game's first 11 shots on goal before the Wild offense woke up during a power play late in the period. Minnesota second-line left winger Jason Zucker fell victim to friendly fire in the final minute of the first. He was hit in the left knee by a Ryan Suter slap shot while posted in front of the Oilers' net. Zucker was helped from the ice but returned for the second period.
Edmonton broke the deadlock near the midway point of the second with the team's fourth shorthanded goal of the season. After a Talbot save, Zack Kassian started a 2-on-1 break with Nugent-Hopkins. After a cross-ice pass from Kassian, Nugent-Hopkins zipped a rising wrist shot past Stalock on the stick side. It was the team-leading 13th goal of the season for Nugent-Hopkins.
Dumba tied the game four minutes later, taking a backhand pass from Mikael Granlund and blasting a slap shot from the high slot, which caught the inside of the right post behind Talbot and deflected in.
Lucic scored his eighth goal of the season with a fluttering shot that beat a screened Stalock's glove, and assisted on Puljujarvi's goal in the third.
A slap shot that hit the upper right corner of the net gave Dumba the second two-goal game of his career. Stalock had one of Minnesota's 31 shots on goal, firing a loose puck the length of the ice with the Wild killing a penalty in the third period.
NOTES: Injured Wild LW Zach Parise (back surgery) and D Jared Spurgeon (groin) have begun skating with the team, although neither has returned to the lineup. Parise, who has been on long-term injured reserve, has not been cleared for full contact by doctors. ... On Friday, two teams from the Alberta Junior Hockey League played the final hockey game at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, which was the Oilers' home rink from the building's opening in 1974 until 2016 when the NHL team moved to Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton. Northlands is expected to be demolished sometime after Jan. 1. ... The Wild celebrated girls' and women's hockey over the weekend with several activities, including former high school, University of Minnesota and Olympic star Krissy Wendell practicing with the team on Friday.