Wild Storm Back with Five Unanswered Goals to Stun Oilers in Edmonton
Jesper Wallstedt stood tall between the pipes, and Minnesota’s offense caught fire, as the Wild rolled to a 7-3 comeback win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Rogers Place. After falling behind early, Minnesota responded with five straight goals, flipping the script on a night that started with Edmonton in control.
Let’s start with Wallstedt. The 21-year-old netminder was dialed in, turning away 39 shots and anchoring a Wild team that found its rhythm after a back-and-forth first period.
While the Oilers generated chances-especially in a second period where they outshot Minnesota 17-7-Wallstedt never looked rattled. He even picked up an assist, his first point of the season, on a first-period breakaway goal.
Not a bad night for the rookie.
The Wild, now riding a five-game point streak (4-0-1), got production up and down the lineup. Quinn Hughes continued his torrid pace, notching a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to eight games-13 points over that stretch, and now a franchise record for a defenseman.
It wasn’t just Hughes making noise: Joel Eriksson Ek, Mats Zuccarello, and Brock Faber each chipped in with a goal and an assist. Minnesota’s depth showed up in a big way.
“We talk about being a good team, and I thought all four lines and all six D contributed,” said Wild head coach John Hynes. “Our goaltender played well too. That’s what you need to beat a team like this.”
It didn’t look like a runaway early. Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring just over three minutes in, picking off a pass and snapping a shot past Wallstedt.
Eriksson Ek answered on the power play, sprung on a breakaway by a stretch pass from Hughes. He finished with a smooth forehand move, top shelf.
Wallstedt picked up the secondary assist on the play.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins briefly gave Edmonton the lead again, redirecting a pass from Connor McDavid through Wallstedt’s legs. But Kirill Kaprizov tied it up before the first period ended, finishing off a slick passing sequence on the power play.
From there, the Wild took over.
Just 35 seconds into the second, Zuccarello gave Minnesota its first lead of the night, ripping a one-timer off a faceoff win. Hughes added to it midway through the period, capitalizing on a wild bounce off the end boards and batting the puck in past Oilers goalie Tristan Jarry.
Vladimir Tarasenko made it 5-2 minutes later, finishing a centering feed from Marcus Foligno. That was the end of the night for Jarry, who allowed five goals on 20 shots before being relieved by Connor Ingram.
“It’s tough,” Jarry said. “Some of the chances we gave up were Grade A.
The fourth goal was just an unlucky bounce off our D and the end wall. It came right back to Hughes.
That’s just how it went tonight.”
The Wild weren’t done. Rem Pitlick scored early in the third on a sharp centering feed from Foligno, and while Jack Roslovic pulled one back for Edmonton, Faber capped the scoring with a pinpoint shot from the left hashmarks to make it 7-3.
Special teams told part of the story. Minnesota went 2-for-3 on the power play, while Edmonton came up empty on their two chances. Faber pointed to that as a key difference-maker.
“Special teams were huge for us,” he said. “They hit a couple posts in the third that could’ve changed the momentum, but thankfully they stayed out. That’s hockey, and we came out on top.”
Despite the final score, the Oilers had their moments. They started strong and generated plenty of looks, especially in the second period. But discipline issues hurt them-three offensive-zone penalties in the first period opened the door for Minnesota, and the Wild didn’t hesitate to walk through it.
“That was a big turning point,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “We had a good period at even strength, but those penalties really swung the momentum.”
Draisaitl, who scored the game’s first goal, briefly left the game early in the second after crashing into the boards but returned later in the period. He recorded his 1,034th career point, tying Mark Messier for fourth-most in Oilers franchise history.
He’s also now picked up points in nine of his last ten games against Minnesota. McDavid, meanwhile, added another assist to his league-leading 95 points.
But on this night, it was all about the Wild’s depth, discipline, and a goaltender who looked like he belonged. Wallstedt’s poise under pressure and Minnesota’s ability to roll all four lines made the difference. If they keep playing like this, they’re going to be a problem down the stretch.