The Minnesota Wild played their 2nd game of a 3-game road trip against the Edmonton Oilers and we’re just going to make the pregame state as simple as possible:
The Oilers have sucked, the Wild have not.
Let’s see what both of them got!
2024-25 Minnesota Wild Schedule and Results
12-3-3 (W-L-OTL) (27 points)
2nd in the NHL Central Division
2024-25 Edmonton Oilers Schedule and Results
10-8-2 (W-L-OTL) (22 points)
4th in the NHL Pacific Division
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How’s that for a puckin’ preview? Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Game Recap
1st Period
The Oilers had won 4 of their last 6 games as they were still trying to get their season back on track so were they a different team tonight? Were the Wild ready to play their game no matter what team showed up as their opponent?
Geez! This isn’t a great start. The only good thing is the Wild have 59:33 to come back from it:
19:33 – Goal – Edmonton – Leon Draisaitl (15) from Connor McDavid (16)
This is a goalie’s nightmare. Look at that stupid bounce! Why isn’t the puck a ball? Because it’s a hockey puck! There’s no such thing as a hockey ball! Come on, now! Flower & the Wild will recover. This team has let much bother them so far this season. Maybe the real question is how Edmonton will respond to it.
Minnesota Wild 0 | 1 Edmonton Oilers
About 90 seconds later, Minnesota Wild F Marcus Foligno tied the game but Edmonton challenged the play for being offsides:
Challenge Initiated By: Edmonton
Type of Challenge: Off-Side
Result: Call on the ice is overturned – No Goal Minnesota
Explanation: Video review determined that Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno preceded the puck into the offensive zone and was in an off-side position prior to Yakov Trenin’s goal. According to Rule 38.9, “The standard for overturning the call in the event of a “GOAL” call on the ice is that the NHL Situation Room, after reviewing any and all available replays and consulting with the On-Ice Official(s), determines that one or more Players on the attacking team preceded the puck into the attacking zone prior to the goal being scored and that, as a result, the play should have been stopped for an “Off-Side” infraction; where this standard is met, the goal will be disallowed.”
The clock is reset to show 18:06 (1:54 elapsed time), when the off-side infraction occurred.
So… the Wild had to get back to work. After about 8 minutes, Wild F Kirill Kaprizov did a masterful job of winning a couple of battles to keep possession of the puck so he could pass it to Matt Boldy at the blue line. He skated into the slot, hesitated like he was going to pass the puck then fired and scored with the help of a Joel Eriksson Ek screen of Edmonton G Stuart Skinner.
10:04 – Goal – Minnesota – Matt Boldy (11) from Kirill Kaprizov (21) & Jonas Brodin (6)
Should we just call Leon Draisaitl Leon Raisaitl because there is No D in his game! Not even a lower-case d! Was Edmonton playing zone defense here? It looked like a power play but it wasn’t. Is this what’s wrong with the Oilers? Very little compete here. Just sticks waving at the pucks and letting a guy shoot from the top of the slot.
Minnesota Wild 1 | 1 Edmonton Oilers
Great job by the Wild to get the game tied up by outshooting Edmonton 9 to 7* after that unlucky bounce to open the game for Wild G Marc-André Fleury.
*97 for Kirll not for McDonald… what’s that… It’s McDavid. Apparently it’s McDavid. Whatever. Go Kaprizov!!!
2nd Period
A little over 3 minutes into the 2nd period, the Minnesota Wild easily exited their zone, skated through the neutral zone & get a shot with very little resistance from the Oilers then the Wild regain the puck rather easily and D Declan Chisholm got a shot from the right point. Four of the Oilers on the ice watched the puck get to the net then react when Marcus Foligno tipped the shot and it hit his right skate but it deflected in front of him so he was right there to shooting it not once but twice and score his 4th goal of the season to put Minnesota up 2-1.
16:51 – Goal – Minnesota – Marcus Foligno (4) from Declan Chisholm (5) & Frederick Gaudreau (8)
The Edmonton Oilers played for the Stanley Cup & forced a Game 7 five months ago on the same ice they are struggling in this game. There’s No Clutter in Edmonton’s game right now.
Minnesota Wild 2 | 1 Edmonton Oilers
A little less than 3 minutes later, the Oilers won an offensive zone faceoff and Corey Perry got the puck in the right corner and skated behind the net. He came around the left side of the net and tried a wraparound shot that went off of Wild D Jared Spurgeon’s left skate and into the net to tie the game at 2.
13:57 – Goal – Edmonton – Corey Perry (4) Unassisted
Minnesota Wild 2 | 2 Edmonton Oilers
10:50 – Goal – Minnesota – Marcus Johansson (2) from Ryan Hartman (2)
Wild F Ryan Hartman made a nice pass to Marcus Johansson but this defense is hard to watch. Last season, the Oilers were 10th in the NHL in Goals Against per Game. They were 15th heading into this game which doesn’t add up to what we’re seeing from them here. They are without Darnell Nurse but it’s hard to believe one player would make that big of a difference. That McDavid guy should be pissed!
Minnesota Wild 3 | 2 Edmonton Oilers
8 minutes later, the Wild force a loose puck and Ryan Hartman is allowed to skate into the offensive zone and find Freddy Gaudreau on a beautiful pass but a quick search for the saying “oil & water don’t mix” reveals this meaning:
The expression “oil and water don’t mix” is used to describe people or things that don’t get along or mix well together.
Does ice count as “water” since it’s just water in a frozen state?
2:58 – Goal – Minnesota – Frederick Gaudreau (3) from Ryan Hartman (4)
Minnesota Wild 4 | 2 Edmonton Oilers
The Wild held a 2-goal lead and we assume this Wild team wouldn’t expect an easy third period on the road against a team with the talent that the Edmonton Oilers have because two points is two points. They’re actually a lot more important to Edmonton right now than they are to the Wild.
3rd Period
About halfway into the final period, the Oilers lose a puck battle and Marcus Foligno made a nifty little move to get the puck past two Oilers to give the Wild a 3-on-1 with Jake Middleton carrying the puck up the right side. The Oilers defender took away the pass but Middleton show low and to the goalie’s right so a save would head in the direction of Freddy Gaudreau and it worked like a dream and the Wild lead 5-2.
10:10 – Goal – Minnesota – Frederick Gaudreau (4) from Jake Middleton (8) & Marcus Foligno (3)
Go back and watch the beginning of the replay and see how Oilers “superstar” F Leon Draisaitl reacts to losing the puck and watch him stand and watch as his team is trying to defend a 3-on-1. He doesn’t or maybe just barely gets across the red line. Leon has a current salary cap hit of $8.5M and he just signed an 8-year, $112M extension ($14M per season). He may be the worse defensive forward in the league or maybe he just plays that bad against the Wild.
Minnesota Wild 5 | 2 Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton scored a late goal to make it look better but it was a loose puck, rebound, bad bounce type of goal that meant nothing in this game.
0:25 – Goal – Edmonton – Jeff Skinner (4) from Corey Perry (4) & Adam Henrique (3)
Minnesota Wild 5 | 3 Edmonton Oilers
THAT… is Another Wild Victory!!!
TWOOOOO POINTS!!!
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Final
Minnesota Wild 5 | 3 Edmonton Oilers
Goals
MN:
Matt Boldy (11); Marcus Foligno (4); Marcus Johansson (2); Frederick Gaudreau (3); Frederick Gaudreau (4)
EDM:
Leon Draisaitl (15); Corey Perry (4); Jeff Skinner (4)
Assists
MN:
Kirill Kaprizov (21), Jonas Brodin (6); Declan Chisholm (5), Frederick Gaudreau (8); Ryan Hartman (2); Ryan Hartman (3); Jake Middleton (8), Marcus Foligno (3)
EDM:
Connor McDavid (16); Unassisted; Corey Perry (2), Adam Henrique (3)
Goalies
MN:
Marc-André Fleury
28 Saves on 31 Shots; .903 Save %; 2.76 GAA*; 4th Win
EDM:
Stuart Skinner
21 Saves on 26 Shots; .808 Save %; 3.33 GAA*; 6th Loss
*Goals Against Average
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Next up:
The Wild went to Calgary for a Saturday matinee at 3:00 pm CST on FanDuel Sports Network North!
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Thanks for Reading!!!
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