Wild 5, Oilers 3: Kyle Brodziak scored a pair of goals as visiting Minnesota built a large lead and held on for its second straight victory.
Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise also tallied while Niklas Backstrom made 16 saves for the Wild, who remained one point ahead of seventh-place St. Louis in the Western Conference. Minnesota sits two points behind fourth-place Los Angeles, which dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to fifth-place San Jose on Tuesday.
Rookie Nail Yakupov recorded a goal and an assist, captain Shawn Horcoff and Magnus Paajarvi also scored and Devan Dubnyk stopped 25 shots for Edmonton, which has lost six in a row.
Brodziak opened the scoring 61 seconds into the game, beating Dubnyk from the low slot after Oilers forward Sam Gagner's clearing attempt of a rebound landed right on his stick. The former Oiler capped his 10th career two-goal performance at 5:34 of the third period as he converted a breakaway chance to give the Wild a 5-1 lead.
Coyle snapped a 1-1 tie at 2:56 of the second and Granlund made it 3-1 less than four minutes later with a shot from the low slot. Parise expanded the lead 20 seconds into the third as he got his own rebound near the right post and slid the puck across the crease before skating around to the other side of the net and burying it.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Edmonton D Ladislav Smid left the game early in the third period after being hit on the right forearm with a shot but returned midway through the session. ... Brodziak's two-goal effort was his first since Dec. 10, 2011 against Phoenix. ... Minnesota has won four straight overall meetings with the Oilers and seven of eight in Edmonton.
Minnesota | Edmonton | |
Kyle Brodziak 2 | Points | Nail Yakupov 2 |
Kyle Brodziak 2 | Goals | Nail Yakupov 1 |
Jason Pominville 2 | Assists | Taylor Hall 2 |
Zach Parise 1 | Power Play Goals | Shawn Horcoff 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Niklas Backstrom .842 | Save Percentage | Devan Dubnyk .833 |
Niklas Backstrom 16 | Saves | Devan Dubnyk 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Minnesota | 30 | 5 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 33 |
Edmonton | 19 | 3 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 4 | 24 |