Wild stretch road streak with win in Edmonton
EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Minnesota Wild issued a rather convincing statement Tuesday in the form of a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
In a clash between two of the hottest teams in the NHL, the Wild cooled the Oilers off in a hurry, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the game was 25 minutes old and then beating back a couple of comeback attempts before putting the home team away for good.
Tyler Graovac scored twice and Jason Zucker, Zach Parise and Chris Stewart added singles as the Wild improved to 33-11-5 on the season, securing their hold on first place in the Central Division by improving to 12-0-2 in their last 14 road games.
Minnesota backup goalie Darcy Kuemper, starting so Devan Dubnyk could get some rest after flying to Los Angeles for the All-Star game, held up his end of the deal, stopping 41 of 43 shots and even chipping in an assist.
The Oilers probably thought they had an edge without having to face Dubnyk, who has the best goals against and save percentage in the NHL, but they couldn't take advantage.
Instead, the Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Graovac scored at 13:09 of the first period and Zucker added another 3.6 seconds before the intermission.
The teams scored two goals each in the second period, with Parise and Graovac scoring for the Wild and Anton Slepyshev and Leon Draisaitl (on the power play) replying for the Oilers.
Oilers starter Cam Talbot got the hook after the fourth Minnesota goal.
The Oilers had a chance to make things interesting on an early power play in the third period, but couldn't score, and fell behind 5-2 when Chris Stewart stepped out of the penalty box and put one past backup Laurent Brossoit.
NOTES: Wild G Devan Dubnyk will start Wednesday when Minnesota plays at Calgary. ... Edmonton D Oscar Klefbom didn't have a single penalty minute in 51 games before the All-Star break. ... RW Jujhar Khaira (wrist) skated by himself before Edmonton's practice Monday but won't be available for any of the club's next four games. ... With the All-Star break and collective-bargaining-agreement-mandated bye week, the Oilers are in a stretch where they play six games in 20 days. ... Minnesota led the NHL with seven players with 30 points or more this season at the break. ... The Wild's 69 points represented the franchise's best total ever through 49 games.