Early deficit proves too steep for Wild in Edmonton

EDMONTON -- Getting a handle on any team led by Connor McDavid is a challenge. It's next to impossible when you spot that team a three-goal lead less than half a period into the game.
Minnesota surrendered three goals in less than nine minutes of action in what became a 7-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday at Rogers Place.

And while the final score indicated a blowout, there was a large stretch of the game where the result was very much in doubt.
Trailing 3-1, the Wild had a pair of power plays in the second period and had a handful of grade-A scoring chances it simply couldn't convert on.
Score on any one of them, make the game 3-2, and it's quite possible the third period doesn't go the way it did.
Instead, Edmonton made it 4-1 early in the third, then 5-2 moments after Nino NIederreiter had breathed a bit of life into the Wild.
Two more late goals by the Oilers changed the final boxscore, but didn't change one simple fact: The Wild has work to do before it opens a four-game homestand Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
"We'll turn the page and look to our schedule ahead. [But] I don't think you can just disregard what happened here, there's gotta be some common themes or some areas that, again, are just uncharacteristic of us and things that we did; the sort-outs, the back-checking, [giving iup] odd-man rushes," said Wild forward Zach Parise. "When we're playing well, we don't do that stuff. So we'll take note of those things and move forward and get ready for our next one."
Without a doubt, the biggest turning point in the game game early. Moments after Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk made a fantastic save on Ryan Spooner to keep the score 1-0, a bouncing puck handcuffed the Wild goaltender. He couldn't corral it, the Oilers rushed the front of the net and it was chipped in by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a 2-0 nothing lead.

"Obviously, the second goal. Can't give that up. Make a save after the first goal and needed to settle it down," Dubnyk said. "[I'm] disappointed with myself for the second one. I take a lot of pride in just kind of calming things down if it's feeling it a little crazy, and obviously that just fuels the situation. I'll definitely take responsibility for that.
"It was a weird play the way it happened, but it doesn't matter. I can handle those. I need to handle those. I feel bad for making Al [Stalock] go in there. I thought he played fantastic and definitely deserved a little better than the end of the game."
Moments later, McDavid lasered a shot under the crossbar through traffic, ending Dubnyk's night.
Stalock was outstanding early on, making several key stops, including one on Valentin Zykov late in the first and two more on Leon Draisaitl in the second.
And after Marcus Foligno's first-period goal less than two minutes after Stalock entered, the Wild looked like it had gotten itself on track.

But for the second time in 24 hours, Minnesota just didn't have the ability to finish its scoring chances.
Perhaps no exchange was more appropriate than Edmonton's backbreaker midway through the third.

After Niederreiter had made it 4-2, Minnesota continued its push, getting Talbot moving in his crease -- at one point lying on his back -- with a puck loose in the blue paint. A number of Wild players were nearby jamming away and couldn't get it to go.
Finally, the Oilers gained control of it with McDavid and Draisaitl in transition. McDavid carried the puck into the offensive zone, tried one pass that was blocked by a skate and came right back to him, then fed another right to Draisaitl for his second goal of the night.
"It's a test of character now. You either bounce back or you start blaming everybody else. We've got to look at ourselves," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "This has been the same group for almost three years now, so we've got to right the ship and go from there. Next game we've got to be ready and play the right way."

Minnesota has prided itself all season on its ability to come back and dig out of early holes. Friday, the deficit was just too much.
"We've said it all along, it's nice to have that ability to know you can do that, to be able to do that and we made it 3-1, there were a lot of good opportunities there to make it 3-2 and then who knows after that?" said Parise, who skated in his 900th NHL game. "We tried to get ourselves back into the game, but in this league, when you're trying to come back from 3-nothing, it's a really tough challenge and then it just fell apart."
Now the Wild will have its character tested as it weathers what it hopes will be its most difficult stretch of the season.
"I think it will be a telling moment]," said Wild defenseman Ryan Suter. "When we're not winning and not having a ton of success, you can test your character. For sure this is a character test for us. We have to get going Tuesday and find a way to win."
Related:
[Postgame Hat Trick: Oilers 7, Wild 2