The Minnesota Wild’s five-game winning streak was snapped with a loss in Vancouver.
The Minnesota Wild’s first period struggles continued with losing 5-2 to the Canucks last night; they have only scored first three times in eleven games. This was not the start coach Bruce Boudreau was hoping for on this lengthy road trip.
Minnesota can redeem themselves as they are on the tail end of back to back games tonight in Edmonton.
Vancouver went 1-4 on the power play against the Minnesota Wild last night. Minnesota has now killed 20 of 22 opponents power-plays in the previous 5 games.
Mikael Granlund continued his point streak at eight games with an assist in Vancouver. During this streak, Granlund has 10 points (5G-5A=10).
Zach Parise, three-game point streak, came to an end against the Canucks. He recorded two goals and two assists (2G-2A=4) during this streak.
LW Jordan Greenway had reason to celebrate after a loss yesterday in Vancouver. He tallied his first career regular-season goal coming off a two-game stint with the Iowa Wild (AHL).
Per dailyfaceoff.com, goaltender Devan Dubnyk will get a rest tonight. His seven-game point streak came to an on Monday after going (5-0-2).
St. Paul native, Alex Stalock will start. Stalock has made two starts this season with a record of (1-1-0) posting a 3.44 GAA and a .879 SV%
Opponent: Edmonton Oilers
Phenom Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers (6-3-1) are in the midst of a three-game winning streak. Two of these wins were on the road, beating Nashville and Chicago. The Oilers also have points in their last four games going (3-0-1). Edmonton also has points in seven of their last eight matchups with a record of (6-1-1).
McDavid is having a fantastic season to date with points in nine of ten Oilers games. His 17 points (8G-9A=17) rank 5th in the NHL. Some offensive production is starting to come from some other players in Edmonton as Leon Draisaitl has five points (4G, 1A) in his last three games.
The Rundown
Puck Drop: 8:08 Central
Radio: KFAN FM and affiliates
Watch: Fox Sports North; Fox Sports app
All-Time Record vs. Oilers: 51-27-10 (27-14-3 at Xcel Energy Center, 24-13-7 at Edmonton)
17-18: Wild went (1-2-0) vs. Edmonton last season
Team Series Leaders:
Minnesota Wild: Koivu has 46 points (7-39=46) in 62 games against Edmonton.
Edmonton Oilers: Nugent-Hopkins leads the Oilers with 12 points (6-6=12) in 21 games against Minnesota
Wild Goalies vs. Oilers: Dubnyk is 9-2-0 with a1.34 GAA, a .947 SV% and two shutouts vs. the Oilers. Stalock is 2-2-0 with a 2.02 GAA and a .928 SV% in four starts.
Oilers Goalies vs. Wild: Talbot is 4-5-1 with a 2.42 GAA and a .922 SV% in 10 career starts vs. the Wild.
Injuries:
Minnesota Wild: Matt Hendricks (leg)
Edmonton Oilers: Andrej Sekera (Achilles) Ty Rattie (upper body) Cooper Marody (undisclosed)
Minnesota will need to get over these sluggish first periods if they want to have a successful road trip. The young and hungry Edmonton Oilers are playing pretty well right now and should be a challenge for the Minnesota Wild especially with playing just 24 hours ago.
All stats courtesy of nhl.com and dailyfaceoff.com.