Backstopped by another Shutout performance from Devan Dubnyk, the Minnesota Wild cruised past the Edmonton Oilers with 2 goals from Justin Fontaine.
Good Morning and happy Saturday, Wild fans. It might be the Edmonton Oilers, but a quality win is a quality win, right? We’ve heard a lot about the Wild needing its youngsters to step up and tonight they did exactly that, with Justin Fontaine, Nino Niederreiter, and Jordan Schroeder all scoring. Don’t forget to check out Andrew’s coverage of available forwards for more on who the Wild might pickup for a playoff push.
First Period:
The first period was pretty evenly matched in terms of shot attempts by both sides, including a couple of odd-man rushes by the Oilers. I think we forget sometimes that the Oilers have a bunch of talent and are a wicked fast team.
The scariest moment of the game came when Marco Scandella left the ice limping after just his 3rd shift on the ice. He returned later in the second with stitches in his ankle thanks to an errant skate blade. More on that later.
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Justin Fontaine opened the scoring around the midway point of the first period.
and Fontaine beat
along the boards and set up youngster
at the left point. Folin fired a quick wrister that Fontaine deflected up and over the head of goaltender
to make it
1-0 Wild at 10:18 of the first period.
Later in the first,
and Nino Niederreiter finally clicked for a goal. Koivu,
, and Niederreiter gained the offensive zone with just a little pressure at the blue line and Koivu put a weak shot on goal from along the left-wing wall. Koivu’s shout looked to roll across Scrivens’ leg pad and right in to the slot where Niederreiter scooped it up and put his 19th goal of the year in to a wide open net before Scrivens could react to make it
2-0 Wild at 15:06 of the first period.
With his goal, Niederreiter jumps to second on the Wild in goals scored this season, which is awesome.
Shots after one period: Minnesota Wild 8, Edmonton Oilers 5
Second Period:
Scandella returned around the 6th minute of the second period, which is good, because Edmonton started to pressure a bit, but never managed to sustain it.
Scrivens made a wicked save on Fontaine’s first bid for a 2-goal game. Collecting a rebound from a Granlund attempt, Fontaine teed up a wrist shot that was earmarked for a goal, except it went right in to Scrivens’ trapper. I bet the Wild’s sophomore forward is still shaking his head. Take a look at the video:
"The Professor will see you now. #MINvsEDMhttps://t.co/lfTb0urdvh— NHL (@NHL) February 21, 2015"
Jordan Schroeder added a little insurance to the Wild’s lead with his 3rd goal of the season and 2nd in as many nights. Cruising in to the zone with Koivu and
, Schroeder picked up a beautiful pass and deflected it over the glove of Scrivens to make it
3-0 Wild at 15:50 of the second period.
The goal came as Edmonton was desperate for a change and looked more like traffic cones than a defensive team.
It’s really nice to see Schroeder come along. He plays a very similar game to Jason Zucker and seems to slot in naturally in his absence.
Shots through two periods: Minnesota Wild 21, Edmonton Oilers 10
Third Period:
The Wild held Edmonton to 5 shots on goal in the third period, with 4 of them coming in the first 7 minutes. That’s pretty impressive.
Nate Prosser broke the game’s penalty free streak in the 8th minute. The Wild’s depleted PK held the Oilers without a shot or a shot attempt. Again, that’s pretty impressive.
Fontaine grabbed his second goal of the game in the waning minutes of the third thanks to
. Parise played the puck cleanly along the boards and scurried around
behind the net before feeding Fontaine in the slot. Fontaine let loose a lightning fast wrist shot over the glove of Scrivens to make it
4-0 Wild at 18:45 of the third period. Game Over, Wild Win again.
Final shots on goal: Minnesota Wild 29, Edmonton Oilers 15
Trembley’s Take:
Mikko Koivu had two assists, tying him with Marian Gaborik for a franchise record 114 multi-point games in a Wild sweater. He’s playing out of his mind lately, and its paying off for the surging Wild
I don’t know what else to say about Fontaine that hasn’t already been said. He’s a beast on the ice. He’s not a natural scorer like Parise or Niederreiter, but he’s always in the right spot at the right time. He was second on the team tonight with a 67% corsi-for at even strength. He also had 3 shots on goal in 15:36 of ice time.
I think Folin played really well in an expanded role, especially after being a healthy scratch for 7 games earlier this season. He was a +2 in 16:31 of ice time. He was second among defencemen with a 65% corsi-for at even strength. Let’s see if it continues, but the Wild worked awfully hard to sign him and I still think he deserves a good, hard look.
Lastly, Devan Dubnyk. He wasn’t very busy tonight, but I think that’s tough on a goaltender, because it’s hard to get in to a groove. Since his arrival in Minnesota, the Wild has posted a league best 12-2-2 record per Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Short post today, but I’ve got an early morning this morning. For those of you that collect hockey cards, don’t forget today is Hockey Card Day in the United States, so don’t forget to show your local hobby shop some love. Thanks for reading!!