Alex Bader
The Minnesota Wild won their seventh straight game when they managed to overcome the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 4-1. The Wild started the road trip with a win and proved that their win against Toronto was not a fluke.
This Wild team is legit and the league better pay attention. They improved to 18-6-1 and sit in first place in the Central division, they are seven points clear of the Blues in second place - which could make for a huge Winter Classic game if the standings stay where they are.
BADER'S TAKE
Kaprizov 1 vs. McDavid 0
Talbot was Fuego.
In the first meeting of the two number 97's, it was Kaprizov who got the better of McDavid and the Oilers.
Kaprizov didn't have his best game of the year, but he had a solid game and picked up an assist. He was trying to score and force it too much rather than let the game come to him. Like the rest of the team, he didn't do much until the third period when he looked much better. He is now on a 6-game point streak and has 19 points in his past 10 games.
He is one of the hottest players in the league currently.
McDavid also picked up an assist on the Edmonton goal, but he was shut down by Brodin and Dumba for most of the game.
Talbot was the only reason the Wild won the game. He was excellent and on his game from the get-go while the Wild were asleep in the first two periods. He stopped 38 of 39 shots. He has gotten into a groove lately and looked like a brick wall tonight.
Marcus Foligno has been tremendous so far for the Wild. He has 11 goals in 25 games. He had 11 in 39 games last year and 11 in 59 two years ago. His career-high is 13 in 80 games played in 2016-17.
The GREEF line of Eriksson EK, Greenway, and Foligno has been exceptional since their reuniting a couple of games ago.
The three unlikely goal scorers - Greenway, Ek, and Hartman - have combined for 34 of the Wild's 93 goals.
The Wild managed to pull out the win, even if it was ugly for the most part. Not all parts of their game tonight were poor. The Wild killed all five of the Oilers' power-plays, the Oilers were the league leaders in power-play percentage coming into the game.
The Wild also scored a power-play goal against one of the best penalty-killing teams in the league. Hopefully, that goal can jumpstart the power-play for the Wild, which has struggled all season.
Game Recap:
The Minnesota Wild are a hot team.
They displayed that again by grabbing the early lead 1:11 into the first period.
Nico Sturm drew a power-play for the Wild. Eriksson Ek pounded away at the Edmonton goalie and forced the puck in, 1-0 Wild.
However, the Oilers responded to the deficit well by bottling the Wild up in their defensive zone and pressured Talbot heavily. They had the better of the offensive zone time.
The Wild were able to handle the pressure and got their chance on a break the other way.
Matt Dumba skated up the ice and found Marcus Foligno streaking to the net who put the puck in the open net. The Wild had the 2-0 lead with 12:36 left in the first period.
The Oilers went to the power-play thanks to a Kulikov holding penalty.
The Wild penalty killers were successful.
Not too long after the first Edmonton power-play, Pitlick took a tripping penalty and sent the Oilers back onto the power-play, 7:43 left.
The Wild killed the second penalty to keep their lead intact.
The Wild went into the first intermission with the lead, 2-0. Talbot was excellent and stopped all 10 shots.
The Wild needed to limit the Oiler's offensive zone time if they wanted to get out of Edmonton with two points.
Brodin took a penalty to send the Oilers on to the power-play to start the second period.
The Wild once again killed the Edmonton power-play.
The Oilers came hard in the second.
McDavid danced around the net and found Puljujarvi, who was wide open in the front of the net, and got it past Talbot, who had stopped a McDavid shot right before 2-1 Wild.
There was 13:26 left in the second period. The Oilers started to come alive.
With 6:48 left in the second period, the Wild gained a power-play for their rare offensive zone time.
The power-play was abysmal.
The Wild only made things worse, Foligno took a penalty in order to avoid an ensuing Oilers' breakaway.
The Oilers penalty expired and they had a shortened power-play chance.
The Wild killed the shortened penalty, however, the Oilers had all the momentum.
The Wild went into the third period with the lead, 2-1. It was a period dominated by the Oilers. The Wild were outshot 20-6 in the second.
Talbot had to be great to keep the lead for the Wild, but the Wild needed to be much better in the third if they were to grab the win.
The Wild got off to a strong start in the third period.
Talbot made an excellent save on an odd-man rush.
Right after the save Zuccarello found Brodin who jumped up in the play and then found Rask across the ice for an open shot at the wide-open net, 3-1 Wild.
The Wild had the two-goal lead with 11:58 left in the game.
However, the Oilers continued to battle.
Greenway took a penalty, which gave the Oilers a power-play and a chance to get back within one.
The Wild killed the Oilers' power-play.
Seeing a trend here?
With six minutes left, the Wild had the two-goal lead, 3-1.
Wild defenseman, Kulikov, jumped up and got a breakaway goal to stab the knife into the Oilers, 4-1. Kaprizov had a nifty pass in the neutral zone to lead Kulikov.
The Wild grabbed the win on the road, even though it was ugly, but they rewarded Talbot with his great play.
The Wild have a great chance to extend their win streak to eight games on Thursday when they face the Sharks. The Sharks are 13-11-1 and have struggled lately.
What's Next:
Minnesota Wild (18-6-1) vs. San Jose Sharks (13-11-1)
Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. Puck drop at 9:30 p. m. central time
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