The Wild might have the early MVP favorite, but the Oilers have a candidate, too.
Leon Draisaitl upstaged Kirill Kaprizov and his teammates, leading Edmonton to a 7-1 blitz on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center for the Wild’s most lopsided loss of the season, and it was worse than the final score.
The Wild were shorthanded almost immediately, losing Jake Middleton during the first minute and playing the rest of the game down a defenseman.
“It changes the dynamic,” said coach John Hynes, who didn’t have an update on Middleton after the game.
Middleton left with an upper-body injury after only 37 seconds, a shift that included blocking a shot from Evan Bouchard. At plus-22, Middleton is first in the league in plus-minus and his 76 shot blocks pace the Wild, who dropped to third in the NHL at 19-6-4.
Already, the Wild are missing another top defender in Jonas Brodin, although he and Mats Zuccarello have resumed skating while on the mend from their injuries.
Joel Eriksson Ek, who was hurt last week, hasn’t joined them on the ice, and those absences stung the Wild vs. the skilled Oilers.
“Having two of your best forwards and two of your best defensemen [out] doesn’t help obviously,” defenseman Brock Faber said. “But it’s one of those things where even from the jump it just wasn’t our night.”