Wild 5, Oilers 2
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Thomas Vanek celebrated his 800th career NHL game in style.
The Minnesota Wild's Austrian right winger had a goal and an assist, including the game winner, as his team beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Thursday.
It was the Wild's third straight win since John Torchetti replaced Mike Yeo as head coach. All three of those wins have come on the road.
Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves in a winning effort.
Through the first eight minutes, the Oilers had plenty of jump and outshot the Wild 7-1. Minnesota looked like a team that had played the previous night in Calgary -- a step behind Edmonton at both ends of the ice.
That early surge was halted when Oilers left winger Lauri Korpikoski took a high-sticking minor and Wild right winger Jason Pominville scored on the ensuing power play at 9:30 on Minnesota's third shot of the period.
Edmonton dusted itself off and regained the momentum by tying it 29 seconds later as rookie center Connor McDavid tapped home a pass from left winger Benoit Pouliot to make it 1-1.
The Wild power play struck again at 13:16 as defenseman Matt Dumba banked a pass of the skate of Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.
With 2:41 left in the period, the Oilers tied it 2-2 with 2012 first-overall draft pick Nail Yakupov scoring only his fifth goal of the season. The Russian right winger broke a nine-game pointless drought with a bad-angle wrist shot that eluded Minnesota goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Vanek, playing his 800th career game, put a puck over the shoulder of Oilers goalie Cam Talbot at 4:48 to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead.
Kuemper laid out at full stretch to deny Yakupov's breakaway effort before center Mikael Granlund made it 4-2 with 4:23 left in the second on the Wild's 17th shot.
Wild center Charlie Coyle put a bow on the win with an empty-net goal.
NOTES: Oilers RW Zack Kassian missed his second straight game because of illness but is expected to return to the lineup this weekend. ... The Oilers called up D Nikita Nikitin from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif., on Wednesday, as D Eric Gryba (knee) was placed on injured reserve. Nikitin was a healthy scratch. ... The Oilers also recalled G Anders Nilsson from Bakersfield and sent down G Laurent Brossoit, who gave up only one goal in Saturday's shootout loss to Winnipeg. Brossoit needs regular starts in the minors. ... The Oilers have already used 31 different skaters and three goalies this season. ... Wild D Marco Scandella missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. ... The Wild scratched LW Chris Porter and G Niklas Backstrom, as the team is carrying three goalies.