GAME RECAP: Wild 4, Oilers 1

EDMONTON, AB - Jesse Puljujarvi scored his eighth goal of the season, but the Oilers power play came up empty at 0-for-5 on Tuesday as Edmonton dropped to its third-straight defeat in a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Place.
The Oilers outshot the Wild 29-16 over the final two periods after being staked to a 2-0 deficit in the opening eight minutes of the hockey game, but netminder Cam Talbot was sharp making 38 saves on 39 shots as Minnesota earned its seventh-straight victory.

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FIRST BLOOD

The Wild struck first on the power play just 1:11 into the first period when Joel Eriksson Ek got two whacks at a loose puck to the right of Mikko Koskinen and jammed home the go-ahead goal with the Finn off his post. Minnesota's 29th-ranked power play in the NHL converted on their only opportunity in the opening frame, while Edmonton went 0-for-2.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Breaking across the Wild blueline with support six minutes into the second frame, McDavid stickhandled his way through the offensive zone and put a shot on goal before collecting the rebound and emerging from behind the net to pass off to Puljujarvi, who snapped home his eighth goal of the season past Cam Talbot.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Koskinen parried away Nick Bjugstad's shot on an odd-man Wild rush with the blocker midway through the second period for his most decisive action of the night. The Oilers crease guard made 22 saves on 26 shots and fell to 12-4-0 on the year.

TURNING POINT

Two goals in the opening 10 minutes from Minnesota was their buffer to victory, as the visitors didn't muster much offensively after that with the exception of Victor Rask's insurance goal five-and-a-half minutes into the final frame and defenceman Dmitry Kulikov's rare breakaway tally.

TOP PERFORMER

Former Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot backstopped the Wild with 38 saves on 39 shots, improving his record to 14-5-0 this campaign.

PARTING WORDS

Zack Kassian on a better team performance tonight despite the losing result:
"We did things better. I don't think we deserved the outcome in the first period, but that's the way hockey is sometimes. We felt like we could've won the game until probably halfway through the third period when they got that one, and then we're chasing it. A tough third period for us, especially because we thought we played a pretty good game for the most part... at the end of the day, it matters about two points and we didn't get them tonight."

McDavid on what lacked on the man advantage for the Oilers on an 0-for-5 night for the power play:
"They were prepared. I thought we had our looks, but probably didn't win enough battles on the power play. You go through stretches where it doesn't go in for you, and we went through a long stretch where it was going in. Obviously, this is one of them where it wasn't going in, so we've got to continue doing the right things on the power play. Work hard, get pucks back, and eventually, they'll start going in."
McDavid on the Oilers giving up the first goal for the 15th time in 24 games this season:
"They're a team that's obviously feeling it. Again, I thought we got off to a better start. We were controlling the play on the first shift there, and then kind of a (soft) call there or whatever and they score on the power play, that's the way it goes. I thought we looked more engaged. We were getting pucks to the net, having zone time, and to find ourselves down 2-0 after the first, we probably deserved a little better than that. I liked our response in the second, but obviously, we couldn't complete the comeback."

Head Coach Dave Tippett on the increased energy from his group in the defeat:
"Way more energy tonight. We had way more energy in our legs, way more determination on battles, and getting to the net. We didn't get rewarded for it, but that's a step in the right direction."
Tippett on encouraging signs of improvement tonight despite conceding two goals in the opening eight minutes:
"I thought it was a soft call to start the game. It's a soft call, but it's a goal you'd like to see saved, so you're chasing the game a little bit. The next one is a 3-on-3 rush that we should've defended better, but didn't. You're chasing the game from there on in."
"That being said, I still think we did a lot of things that we were hoping to do tonight. I think we had over 70 attempts at net, which is been a focus here for us in the last little bit. We haven't been able to get chances at the net or pucks at the net. It's a step in the right direction, but not a big enough step yet because we didn't win."