Wild edge Oilers
Published 2:49 am Wednesday, October 28, 2015
ST. PAUL — Charlie Coyle scored for Minnesota midway through the third period, 43 seconds after Ryan Suter’s second goal of the game thwarted Edmonton’s rally, and the Wild hung on to beat the Oilers 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Darnell Nurse scored his first NHL goal soon after the second intermission, giving the Oilers the lead following a 2-0 deficit in the first period, but the Wild roared back against goalie Cam Talbot.
Suter knocked in a loose puck from the crease. Then Coyle crashed the net and tapped in the setup from Thomas Vanek, who had two assists and has at least one point in four straight games.
Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who fell to 3-7 under new coach Todd McLellan with 18-year-old Connor McDavid now headlining a lineup with four of the last six players taken with the first overall pick in the draft.
Hall scored, assisted by fellow former first overall draft picks Nail Yakupov and McDavid, in the first period to get the Oilers going. Then Iiro Pakarinen tied the game off a low-slot feed from Hall with a shot that grazed Wild defenseman Matthew Dumba’s knee and changed direction before eluding Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk.
Nurse was just called up from the AHL, after playing six games for the Bakersfield Condors, to replace Justin Schultz, the team’s ice-time leader, on an injury-laden defense. Nurse ripped a rocket of a slap shot past Dubnyk’s glove, after the puck grazed the stick of Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, and the 20-year-old flashed a huge grin on his way to the bench.
The Wild were the ones smiling a few minutes later, on their way to a fourth straight win at home. The only other team in the league that hasn’t lost on its own ice yet this season is Montreal.
Dubnyk, who’s been bothered recently by a knee injury, made 22 saves against the team that drafted him in the first round in 2004. Dubnyk played five years for the Oilers until being traded.
Dumba used his shoulder to levy an open-ice blindside hit to the head of Lauri Korpikoski in the first period, angering the Oilers and drawing a roughing penalty on Eric Gryba. With the Wild on the power play, Marco Scandella scored off a smooth give-and-go with Vanek for a 2-0 lead.
Talbot stopped 24 shots.
NOTES: Hall has four goals and four assists in the last seven games. … Yakupov and McDavid each have at least one point in six straight games. … The Oilers have been outscored 13-6 in the third period this season. … The Wild have 46 wins in 80 games against the Oilers, their most against any opponent. In the last 25 games in Minnesota between the teams, the Wild are 21-3-1. … Suter’s last multi-goal game was a hat trick on Jan. 4, 2014, against Washington. … Oilers RW Rob Klinkhammer limped off the ice with an injury to his left leg in the first period and did not return.