PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Wild

The Edmonton Oilers put their five-game winning streak on the line as they entertain the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Place on Sunday.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet One & 360 or listen on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs MIN 02.20.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. MIN
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
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ASK AN OILER | Superlatives Pt. 1
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BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Wild Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Jets 2
BLOG: Oilers practice prior to Winnipeg flight
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Sunday's game on Sportsnet One & 360 at 6:00 PM MT.
The latest news, notes and roster updates from the Oilers organization.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
EDMONTON, AB - The stretch drive is alive and so far for the Edmonton Oilers, it's been a smooth ride with Jay Woodcroft at the wheel.
The newly-minted bench boss became the only Oilers coach to begin his National Hockey League tenure with five consecutive victories after a challenging triumph over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. He also has the opportunity to match Patrick Roy and Mario Tremblay's second-longest streak by a head coach to begin his career in NHL history with a sixth straight win Sunday when the Minnesota Wild invade Rogers Place.
Achieving the milestone will be difficult with the Orange & Blue on the heels of a back-to-back after an action-packed seven-day cycle that featured five games on the schedule. Rest and recovery have been prioritized during the rigorous run and Woodcroft is confident in the training staff's ability to ensure all Oilers skaters are poised to perform.
"Our sports science group, headed by our medical trainers and our strength trainers, do a heck of a job making sure that our players are getting what they need," Woodcroft said from the Hall of Fame Room on Sunday.
The Oilers refrained from hitting the ice for a pre-game skate Sunday after Saturday's matinee road match with the Jets and Woodcroft has limited the mental toll on the players by keeping team meetings brief and concepts simple during his introductory week.
"As a coaching staff, we're trying to be conscious about not taxing anybody by going on the ice unnecessarily," he said. "We're making a conscious effort to make sure we're giving our players pertinent information but not paralyzing them with too much information."
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 02.20.22
SPECIAL FORCES
Blocking shots, diving for loose pucks, taking checks to make plays - anything for the win.
On Saturday, Edmonton's special teams units did what they needed to bank another two points to move into third in the Pacific Division standings. Shortly after puck drop, the club's penalty killers prevented Winnipeg's firepower from generating a shot on goal during a two-man advantage and then late in the game, came up clutch again to suppress the Jets' 6-on-4 advantage.
When it was the Oilers turn with the extra man in the first period, Tyson Barrie's slap shot was deflected home by Zach Hyman to open the scoring as Edmonton finished the night 1-for-5 on the man advantage and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.
Coach Woodcroft came way pleased with the effort of the Oilers special teams after they battled adversity in the game despite giving up a shorthanded marker to Jets forward Adam Lowry in the third period.
"You look early in the first period last night, it was 5-on-3 and a key moment," Woodcroft said. "It allowed us to get into the game and then I looked at the one at the end of the game. There couldn't be any bigger moment than that and we found a way to get it done. To give up only three shots on the penalty kill last night I think is a credit to all involved on it."
As the clock ticked down and the Jets pressed for the equalizer in the waning moments of the match, defenceman Cody Ceci sacrificed his body to prevent Mark Scheifele's one-timer from reaching the net. The rearguard ended the afternoon with over five minutes of shorthanded time on ice while setting a good example for his squadmates with the unselfish act.
"He has the courage to be in the shooting lane, that was quite obvious," Woodcroft said of Ceci, who has two goals and 15 points in his first season with the Orange & Blue. "When teammates see someone sacrificing like that, it's a good sign for our team. That willingness to be in those shooting lanes is contagious."
Woodcroft admitted that he would like to limit the number of chances against while on the power play after the Jets spawned a pair of shorthanded breakaways by Brenden Dillon and Lowry in the third. Mikko Koskinen turned Dillon aside but couldn't squeeze his 5-hole tight enough to stop Lowry's backhander from leaking through and breaking his shutout bid.
"Nobody was trying to give the goal up; it happened," Woodcroft said. "We've talked about it, we're going to get better from it and we're moving on."
CREASE CAROUSEL
The puck stops at Mike Smith.
And Mikko Koskinen.
And Stuart Skinner.
Lately, no matter who has been between the pipes, the Oilers have received sound goaltending.
When the puck drops Sunday at Rogers Place, Smith will be in the blue-painted temple as he eyes a fourth consecutive win but just under a week ago it was Skinner who backstopped the squad with a 20-save shutout exhibit against the San Jose Sharks and Saturday at Canada Life Centre, Koskinen was keeping the hatch shut versus Winnipeg.
Skinner earned his first career NHL goose egg while Koskinen was unavailable due to COVID-19 and Smith has slowly found his game after recovering from a lower-body issue and thumb tear earlier in the campaign. With a new lineup template upfront, Woodcroft has watched the team elevate their defensive play in support of the net-protectors that serve as the last line of defence.
"I see our team playing very hard for every goaltender that's been in our net," Woodcroft said. "Mike Smith's no different. He's got a great personality. People gravitate towards him and he's got a ton of experience that he's willing to share."
Rarely do three goaltenders start in a single week but with so many games on the docket plus the possibility of injuries arising, that became the case over the past five contests.
"It's a five in seven for us, you need contributions everywhere from your lineup when you've got that many games," Oilers Captain Connor McDavid said post-game on Saturday. "All the guys have been great, starting with Skinny there in San Jose. We're confident in our goaltending and we've been better in front of them but they've been really solid back there."
LINEUP NOTES
The Oilers line combinations and defence pairings will be made apparent at warmups on Sunday after the club decided not to hold a morning skate.
However, there was news off the ice as the NHL's Department of Player Safety fined defenceman Markus Niemelainen $2,043.75 for cross-checking Winnipeg Jets forward Kristian Vesalainen
in the third period of Saturday's game. The stickwork was missed by the referees and Niemelainen didn't receive a penalty but Woodcroft commented on the physical element the hard-hitting Finn brings to the team.
"We don't want to be on the back foot by taking penalties if we can but we want to establish the fact that getting to our blue paint is going to be a hard place to get to," said the coach.
"Markus certainly makes people earn that ice if they're trying to get to it. That type of physicality on our back end makes us a better team."
-- Paul Gazzola, EdmontonOilers.com
Video: POST-RAW | Connor McDavid 02.19.22
OILERS vs. WILD
STREAM: 6:00 PM MT; televised on Sportsnet One & 360
Oilers Team Scope
Five games with Jay Woodcroft behind the bench has yielded five wins and 10 points as the Oilers, coming off a 4-2 double-up of the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, look to extend their winning stretch to six straight matches Sunday versus the Minnesota Wild.
Edmonton has won nine of their last 12 matches with a 9-2-1 showing over that span which accompanies a 43-29 scoring margin over their opponent. After winning efforts over Los Angeles and Anaheim at Rogers Place last week, the club will vie for their first three-game home win streak since collecting six straight victories on home ice through the month of November earlier in the year.
Oilers Captain Connor McDavid enters the match riding a six-game point streak, tallying three goals and eight assists to lead the National Hockey League with 71 points, while Leon Draisaitl is second with 69. In goal, Mike Smith has earned three consecutive wins to improve to 5-4-1 with a 3.31 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.
Wild Team Scope
The Minnesota Wild were handed a 6-2 loss against the Florida Panthers on Friday and are on a two-game losing skid after an 11-1-1 run prior. The Wild own the sixth-best goal-differential in the NHL with a plus-36 mark and have fared well on the road this season with a 14-9-2 display away from Xcel Energy Center.
Russian superstar Kirill Kaprizov tops the team in all scoring categories with 23 goals, 38 assists and 61 points. Minnesota has received contributions throughout the lineup as six skaters have hit double-digit goal totals and eight players have 20 or more points. Between the pipes, Central Division All-Star and former Oilers netminder Cam Talbot has backstopped the squad by going 19-10-1 with a 2.91 GAA and .911 SV%.
Minnesota defeated Edmonton 4-1 on Dec. 7 and Sunday will mark the second of three meetings between the two sides this season. The Wild are third in the Central Division with a 30-13-3 record, 63 points and .685 points percentage.
By The Numbers
Edmonton is the only team without a loss after scoring first this season (15-0-0) ... The club is 3-2-1 in the second game of a back-to-back this year and 17-6-1 since 2019-20 ... Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leads all Oilers with nine goals, 11 assists and 20 points in 28 head-to-head matches with the Wild ... Draisaitl leads the NHL with nine game-winning goals ... McDavid is fifth in the NHL with 187 shots ...
Minnesota leads the NHL with an 11.5 percent shooting clip and has the best shooting percentage over the last two seasons at 11.4 percent ... The Wild are one of eight teams without a regulation loss when leading at the end of the second period ... The club is tied for first in the NHL with 15 one-goal game wins ... MIN is tied for fifth in the League with 52 first-period goals ... The Wild have won four straight versus the Oilers and are 16-3-0 on the road against EDM since 2010-11.
Injury Report
OILERS - Kris Russell (undisclosed) is on IR; Duncan Keith (upper body) is out 2-to-4 weeks; Zack Kassian (fractured jaw) is out 4-to-8 weeks; Kyle Turris (back) is on IR; Jesse Puljujarvi (lower body) is out 4 weeks.
WILD - Nick Bjugstad (upper body) is day-to-day; Matt Dumba (lower body) is on IR.
-- Paul Gazzola, EdmontonOilers.com