PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Wild

The Edmonton Oilers begin a two-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night.
The Oilers are looking to get back to their winning ways after having their six-game win streak snapped on Saturday against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet West or listen on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game at MIN 04.12.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game at MIN
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Draisaitl
PRE-GAME RAW | Nugent-Hopkins
RECENT VIDEOS
RAW | Darnell Nurse
RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft

Spectacular NWT Play of the Week
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Wild Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
GENE'S BLOG: Hart to Hart conversation
BLOG: Monday's practice at Rogers Place

VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Tuesday's game on Sportsnet West at 6:00 PM MT.
News and notes from the Oilers organization, including Gene Principe taking a deeper look at the close Hart Memorial Trophy race that includes Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
ST. PAUL, MN - A date with the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night opens up a two-game road trip and a five-game stretch for the Edmonton Oilers against playoff-worthy opponents.
Beginning tonight in the State of Hockey, the Oilers will play their next five games against Western Conference opposition that finds itself currently holding onto a post-season spot or well in the mix to claim one before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in May.
"These games are great," Leon Draisaitl said pre-game. "A lot of good teams, a lot of playoff teams coming up, and lots on the line. It gets you ready for a strong push and eventually the playoffs."
Minnesota is 8-0-1 in its last nine home games, having extended that strong run on Saturday after scoring six unanswered goals in a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings that helped the Oilers case for holding down second place in the Pacific Division.
The Oilers, meanwhile, had their six-game overall win streak and nine-game heater on home ice snapped in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche, but pushing the league's best to the brink provided the players and coaching staff a good snapshot of what's possible when they're playing at their best.
"I thought it was a really strong game," Draisaitl said. "Obviously not too much offence, but on the defensive side of things that's what we want to look like. That's what we have looked like in the last couple of weeks here, so that's definitely a good example of how we want to play and that's what we need tonight as well."
Video: PRE-RAW | Leon Draisaitl 04.12.22
Head Coach Jay Woodcroft highlighted the positives from the Colorado contest, but then set his sights on the next one without any lack of haste as he continues to preach the day-to-day approach to his team.
"I think our game on Saturday evening was a good one. It was entertaining for the fans," he said. "I thought there were a lot of good signs for our team, but probably the most important thing about Saturday was that it was 72 hours ago. It was something where after that game, we moved on to the next day."
For the first time in nearly three weeks, the Oilers had more than one day in between games available to them to host a valuable full practice at Rogers Place on Monday before flying to Minnesota to take on a tough Wild team that's tied for second in the Central Division with a game in hand on the St. Louis Blues.
"I think this is one of the first times where we've had a couple of days in between games," Woodcroft said. "We were able to have a full practice day yesterday and I thought we got better. We're going to be prepared for a very competitive, very game Minnesota Wild team. "We better be ready, because I know they'll be."
A RENEWED ORANGE & BLUE
Back on Feb. 20, the Wild faced a resurging Oilers team under Woodcroft and quickly returned them back to earth with a 7-3 victory at Rogers Place.
Minnesota scored four times in the first period to slow Edmonton's five-game winning roll under a new head coach in Woodcroft, whose debut behind the bench began with a difficult six-game stretch in 10 days after the Oilers went 2-12-2 in their previous 14 contests prior to his arrival in Oil Country.
"We obviously went through a tough stretch there," Draisaitl said. "Teams go through it, and ours was probably a bit longer than most, but there are no excuses. That's just the way it happens through injuries, COVID, and things like that."
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 04.12.22
Since the appointment of Woodcroft and Assistant Coach Dave Manson on Feb. 11, the Oilers have transformed themselves into a playoff-worthy outfit with the fifth-best points percentage (.707) in the NHL with a 19-7-3 record during that span. In their last 16 games, their record is an impressive 12-2-2 as the inherent offensive ability of the team has meshed with a renewed defensive focus.
"I think we know when we play our game and stick to what we're good at, we're a really hard team to beat," Draisaitl added. "I think we obviously have a lot of offence, but if we stick to the way that we want to compete defensively and stick to our details, I wouldn't want to play us in the first round or playoffs in general."
Minnesota showed the depth throughout their lineup in that 7-3 torching back in February and have performed no differently since then with offensive leadership in the dynamic Kirill Kaprizov, a strong defensive core around Jared Spurgeon, and crease reinforcements at the trade deadline in future Hall of Famer Mac-Andre Fleury.
Video: PRE-RAW | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 04.12.22
"They have that firepower up front and they can make things happen pretty quick," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who celebrates his 29th birthday in the building he was taken first overall by the Oilers in 2011, said pre-game.
"Then, when they get a lead, they're really good at shutting things down and making it tough for you through the neutral zone and tough getting to the net. So for us, I think the start is important, which is something we've harped on all year. We've definitely done a better job as the year's gone on about establishing our start and coming out with more pace trying to get that first goal, because I think it goes a long way in this league."
That strong start, coupled with a full 60 minutes of solid hockey, is what Woodcroft hopes to see in tonight's rematch between the two teams in Minnesota.
"We know we played them a while ago at the end of a tough stretch for us in terms of scheduling, and they made us pay when we made mistakes," Woodcroft said. "We better be ready tonight."
LINEUP NOTES
Coach Woodcroft didn't provide any lineup updates in his media availability after designating this morning's skate as optional following yesterday's full team practice.
"We'll see out there," he said. "It was an optional skate here this morning, but we'll see what happens here tonight."
The Oilers lineup will be made apparent during warmups ahead of a 6:00pm MT puck drop at Xcel Energy Center.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS at WILD
STREAM: 6:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet West
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers head to Minnesota on Tuesday night looking to start a new streak.
The Blue & Orange had a six-game overall and a nine-game home winning streak snapped on Saturday in a 2-1 overtime loss to Colorado. The Oilers not only went toe-to-toe with the NHL's top team, they dominated to the tune of 50 shots, but the effort was thwarted by the sublime performance of Avalanche netminder Darcy Kuemper.
Mikko Koskinen made his first start in the month of April and spared no time shaking off the rust, turning aside 33 of 34 Colorado shots between the regulation and overtime. The Oilers 12-2-2 run over the last 16 games has been buoyed by stellar goaltending performances by both Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen. Picking a starter has become a difficult challenge as of late, but it's a good problem for Head Coach Jay Woodcroft to have.
"Ever since I've been here, both goaltenders are proving that they want the net," Woodcroft said. "Our plan is to take it one game at a time… both our goaltenders looked good in practice today, but to come out and lay down a hard and fast plan of 'this is how it's going to go down the stretch', that's not how we're looking at it."
Warren Foegele added his 11th goal of the season against Colorado, which looked like the potential game-winner until Nathan Mackinnon was able to tuck a backhand shot past Koskinen with less than five minutes remaining. The Cole Harbour, NS product would end up scoring the only goal in the shootout to put the finishing touch on a thrilling game at Rogers Place.
Wild Team Scope
Minnesota is fresh off a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday in a game where they fell behind 3-0 in the first 10:17 of the game before rallying to score the next six for the win.
The comeback was kicked off by the Wild's offensive pacesetter Kiril Kaprizov. The Russian forward scored his 42nd goal -- which tied him for the franchise record currently held by both Eric Staal and Marian Gaborik - on a cross-crease pass that got deflected into the net.
Just 50 seconds later the deficit was cut to one by a Matt Boldy one-timer from the top of the left face-off circle. Minnesota piled the pressure on in the second with goals by Jared Spurgeon, Mats Zuccarello, and Marcus Foligno to take command of the game.
Zuccarello is in the middle of a resurgent season for the Wild. The 34-year-old has set a career-high in both assists (50) and points (72) in just 63 games this season.
The Wild are in a battle with St. Louis for the number-two spot in the Central Division. Both teams are currently trailing the NHL-leading Avalanche -- tied at 94 points apiece -- with the Wild holding a game in hand.
By The Numbers
The Oilers are fifth in the NHL in point percentage at .709 per cent since Feb. 11, sporting a 19-7-3 record... Edmonton has earned at least a point in 14 of their last 16 games (12-2-2)... In their last seven contests, the Oilers are allowing only 2.00 goals against per game... Edmonton's success as of late has largely been at even-strength with only one powerplay goal in their six contests... Connor McDavid trails only Patrick Kane for the highest percentage of team goals involved in at 43.0 per cent...
The Wild are 2-0 against Edmonton this year outscoring the Oilers 11-4... Kirill Kaprizov is fourth in the NHL in games with at least a point at 57 games, trailing Jonathan Huberdeau, Connor McDavid, and Johnny Gaudreau... the Wild average 3.63 goals per game, which is the fifth most in the NHL... Minnesota has made their shots count with the third-highest shooting percentage in the NHL at 11.1 per cent... The Wild's 213 even-strength goals are the second-most in the NHL and most in franchise history...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Kyle Turris (back) is on IR.
WILD - John Merrill (upper body) day-to-day, Matt Dumba (upper body) day-to-day, Nick Deslauriers (lower body) day-to-day
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com