SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- For a team like the Minnesota Wild, for which the playoffs are far from a sure thing and every point counts, games such as Thursday's are potentially crushing to any postseason plans.

Connor McDavid's goal in the latter half of the third period gave the Edmonton Oilers a 2-1 victory over the Wild.

The Oilers won for just the fourth time in their past 26 meetings with the Wild.

Lauri Korpikoski scored an early goal for Edmonton, which got 29 saves from Cam Talbot en route to its second victory in three games and fifth in the last seven.

"It is a real good feeling. I'm proud of the group tonight," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "Scrappy effort right from minute one on through. There were a lot of positive things for us in the game tonight, our penalty kill was very good."

The Wild (31-27-10) got a goal from Zach Parise, but they remain two points back of the Colorado Avalanche in the quest for the final playoff spot in the West with 14 games to play. With Devan Dubnyk sidelined by an illness, Darcy Kuemper got the start in goal for the Wild and had 23 saves as Minnesota lost its second consecutive home game.

"We're still in a good spot with games in hand, but we've got to take advantage of that," Kuemper said, acknowledging Minnesota's chase of the Colorado Avalanche, who have won three of their last four. "The games just keep ticking away, so you don't want to let points slip away, but they're not going to make it easy on us, and we have to grab as many as we can."

The game was tied 1-1 with less than eight minutes to play when McDavid -- last summer's top draft pick -- sailed up the left side of the ice. Fighting off a check from Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, McDavid got off a rising shot that glanced off Kuemper's left arm and bounced into the net. It was the 14th goal of the season for McDavid, who has averaged better than a point per game in his 33 rookie-season outings.

"You just try and put it on net," McDavid said. "You're kind of at an awkward angle, coming in fast. The goalie doesn't really know how to play that, I don't think. Probably should have been a save, but we'll take it."

Edmonton (27-36-7) failed to score on the game's first power play but made it 1-0 seconds after Minnesota got back to full strength. Mark Letestu's shot on goal from the half-wall hit Kuemper squarely in the pads but produced a sizable rebound. Korpikoski crashed in between the circles and was able to slide a backhand shot between the post and the goalie's left skate at 9:55 of the first period.

"We didn't start the game off the right way getting pucks deep," Wild interim head coach John Torchetti said. "We had about 10 to 12 turnovers in the neutral zone, and we started chasing the game, and we have to be smarter. That falls right into what they want to do. They want a track meet, and it gave them confidence."

Minnesota also failed to score on its first power play near the midway point of the second period but managed to tie the game a few minutes later. On a faceoff to Talbot's left, the dropped puck went off Oilers center Leon Draisaitl's skate and right to Parise. The Wild alternate captain took one stride toward the slot and popped off a wrist shot that eluded Talbot's glove.

Parise had managed just one goal in his previous 18 games.

The Wild power play was 0-for-3 in the second period. Minnesota also survived a scare when a turnover sprung McDavid on a breakaway, but Kuemper's right pad save kept the game knotted 1-1 after 40 minutes.

"I'm glad I don't have to defend him because I know I wouldn't catch him," McLellan said. "But it's not as much a surprise anymore. Where it's very deceptive is those last three or four strides. When you think you have him, he's still pulling away."

NOTES: Wild LW Jason Pominville missed the morning skate and had to be scratched from the lineup because of a pulled leg muscle, ending his ironman streak of 231 consecutive games. It was the second-longest streak in franchise history. ... Already thin on defense, the Oilers lost another blue-liner when the NHL handed a three-game suspension to Darnell Nurse. The discipline came after a late-game fight with San Jose D Roman Polak on Tuesday in a 3-0 home loss by the Oilers. Polak suffered a broken nose in the altercation. ... With starting G Devan Dubnyk out of the lineup because of illness, Minnesota recalled Steve Michalek from its Iowa AHL team to serve as the backup. Michalek played three seasons at Harvard and has a 6-2-0 record for Iowa this winter.