National Hockey League
Minnesota 3, Edmonton 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, December 9, 2016
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees: Trevor Hanson, Tim Peel
Linesmen: Scott Driscoll, Mark Wheler
Attendance: 19019

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- If you like watching lopsided hockey, you will have little interest in the Minnesota Wild these days. If you like nail-biters, the Wild are the team for you.

On Friday night, Jason Pominville, Chris Stewart and Eric Staal scored in a six-round shootout as the Wild extended their winning streak to three, beating the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. It was the sixth consecutive one-goal game for Minnesota.

"All the games are like this," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau joked. "How many times have we had more than a one-goal game? I don't remember. But if anything, it teaches you how to be calm in a one-goal game, whether you're up a goal or down a goal, whether you're pushing or protecting."

Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba scored in regulation for the Wild (14-8-4), who got 25 saves from Devan Dubnyk in their first home game since Black Friday.

The Oilers (14-11-5) got a first-period goal from Leon Draisaitl and a power-play goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins along with 34 saves from goalie Cam Talbot, but they head home with a 0-1-2 mark on their road trip, having seen a lead slip away in all three games.

"Happy that we could come away with a point," Oilers coach Todd McLellan. "Obviously, we'd have liked another one in the shootout, but we'll take that effort and bottle it up and get home and get some rest."

It was another superlative night for Dubnyk, who is 5-0-2 in his past seven starts and is leading the NHL in goals-against average, saves percentage and shutouts. He stopped four of the six shots he faced in the shootout, with Draisaitl and Jordan Eberle scoring for Edmonton after overtime.

"It's important to just build and build and build and build," Dubnyk said. "It's a long season. There's always going to be dips during the year. You need to give yourself a little bit of buffer with some injuries or whatever it might be, the bigger buffer you give yourself, the better off you'll be."

The teams traded opportunities for much of the first quarter until Draisaitl broke through in the final minute. After a setup pass from Benoit Pouliot, Draisaitl got off a low shot that Dubnyk blocked with his left leg pad, only see Draisaitl grab his own rebound and score his team-leading 13th goal of the season and his sixth goal in as many games.

Edmonton dominated the early part of the second period, rattling off the first five shots on goal and looked poised to add to its lead.

Instead, Minnesota tied it. Jason Pominville fed a pass to the blue line, then provided a screen in front of Talbot as Dumba blasted a long-range shot through a crowd and into the lower corner of the net.

"We were kind of on the opposite end of that last year where we weren't winning these games and then you get down into March and February and you're wishing you would have," said Dumba, who had gone 11 games without a goal. "It's awesome seeing us bear down in these situations."

Minnesota took a 2-1 lead early in the third period after a turnover by Oilers star Connor McDavid deep in the Edmonton zone. Wild left winger Mikael Granlund fed a cross-ice pass to Zucker, who lifted a shot over Oilers goalie Cam Talbot.

But a late power play gave the Oilers the opportunity to draw even, and they did so when Nugent-Hopkins' shot from the blue line beat Dubnyk low on the stick side.

In the three-on-three overtime, McDavid was whistled for high sticking Wild left winger Zach Parise. Minnesota had five shots on the power play and Charlie Coyle hit the post with a shot, but they could not score.

"I thought for the most part we played well," Eberle said. "We had our lines rolling and it was good to cap off the tying goal there late and get into the shootout. I thought it was a gutsy kill in overtime to get us to that point and in the shootout, anything can happen."

NOTES: Minnesota is close to getting two players back from knee injuries. D Christian Folin, who has missed five games, and F Zac Dalpe, who has missed 16 games, both skated in practice on Friday. Folin warmed up with the team before Friday's game but was scratched. ... In Thursday's loss at Philadelphia, the Oilers surrendered a trio of goals in 72 seconds, which amazingly was not even close to a team record. In a 1982 game versus St. Louis, the Oilers surrendered three goals in just 38 seconds. ... Edmonton RW Jesse Puljujarvi was a healthy scratch for the fourth time in the past six games. ... The Oilers are at home for their next three games, starting on Sunday when they host the Winnipeg Jets. The Wild are in the midst of a stretch in which they play five of their next six games at home. Minnesota will host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday afternoon.
Top Game Performances
 
Edmonton   Minnesota
Leon Draisaitl 1 Points Matt Dumba 1
Leon Draisaitl 1 Goals Matt Dumba 1
Jordan Eberle 1 Assists Mikael Granlund 1
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Cam Talbot .944 Save Percentage Devan Dubnyk .926
Cam Talbot 34 Saves Devan Dubnyk 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Edmonton 27 2 1-3 4-4 8 28
Minnesota 36 3 0-4 2-3 6 35
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against St. Louis. The Wild have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .583 after a loss.
  • Edmonton will play their next game at home against Winnipeg. The Oilers have a W/L % of .643 after a win and .312 after a loss.