PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Wild

The Edmonton Oilers look to continue their winning ways against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at Rogers Place.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 8:00 pm MST or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880 CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content from inside the locker room.

PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Wild

EDMONTON, AB – Streakin' time.

As the Edmonton Oilers prepare to host the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Place on Saturday, the players & coaches are relieved to talk about something other than their lack of a three-game winning streak this season after ending their drought on Thursday with a 4-3 comeback win over the San Jose Sharks.

“Never in doubt,” Kasperi Kapanen said. “That's hockey sometimes, you start late. But as the game went on, we knew we had to make a push in the third, and this team is always in it. That's a good example right there. As a good team, we need to start better. The first period was bad, and then after that, I thought we were playing better. Big two points.”

Having come close many times this season, the Oilers were again trending towards coming up short of winning three games in a row when the Sharks scored twice in the first two minutes and were leading 3-0 after two periods, aiming to pull within two points of Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division.

While the Sharks proved they're a much better team, one that will be tough to handle moving forward with the likes of Macklin Celebrini, the Oilers went on to show they're still the veteran and experienced squad – among the best in the NHL – and are never out of any game despite the scoreline.

"The good teams find ways to win hockey games," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "We didn't get off to a good start, but we found a way. We don't want to play like that and put ourselves in that position all the time, so good teams find a way to win. Finally, we don't have to listen to 'three in a row' anymore."

Leon Draisaitl scored 1:34 into the third period before the Oilers pulled Connor Ingram for the extra attacker to make it six-on-five with over four minutes left in regulation, cutting the lead to one on Connor McDavid's 34th goal of the season before Evan Bouchard sent it to overtime with 59 seconds remaining.

Zach Hyman put home the game-winner 1:06 into overtime to secure the 4-3 win and his team's first three-game win streak this season.

"I think nobody really wanted to talk about it, and it's good that we got that third one out of the way," Kapanen said. "So I'm sure guys have been thinking about it a little bit throughout the year, but hopefully, from now on, we can just keep playing well and then extend this win streak."

Hyman said it was a good reminder for their group to keep pushing when the result doesn't look like it's going to go their way.

"I think this group is pretty confident that no matter how we're playing, we can climb out of a hole," Hyman said. "You obviously wanna start out great, you wanna be in the lead, you wanna do all the right things, but hockey sometimes doesn't work out like that. So it's good for us to win a game like this.

"You don't want to have it happen often, but every once in a while, it's good for your team."

The Oilers will wrap up their season series with the Wild after losing the first two meetings – a 1-0 shutout on Dec. 2 at Rogers Place on a Jonas Brodin goal
and 33 saves from Jesper Wallstedt, followed a few weeks later on Dec. 20 with a 5-2 defeat at Grand Casino Arena behind a pair from Matt Boldy.

Winning 4-1 at home over Calgary on Thursday, the Wild have won two straight and sit second in the NHL's Central Division at 31-14-10.