Wild begins road trip with Western Conference showdown vs. Oilers

The Wild has won six in a row, while the Oilers have lost their last two games.

December 7, 2021 at 8:02PM
Minnesota Wild's Matt Dumba (24) defends against Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Wild will face off against the Oilers and Connor McDavid for the first time this season on Tuesday night. (Jason Franson, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

EDMONTON, Alberta – Two of the best teams in the Western Conference will square off on Tuesday night, but their situations aren't similar.

While the Wild is cruising, on a season-long six-game win streak, the Oilers have stumbled lately and have lost two in a row ahead of hosting the Wild at Rogers Place in the first meeting of the season between these two conference rivals.

"It's certainly nice on the road when you come into buildings like this that have clearly special players that we feel comfortable not flipping guys on and off the ice trying to get a matchup," coach Dean Evason said, referring to the NHL's top two point-getters in Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. "Clearly, we'd like to have our special people against their special people. But sometimes you're not going to get it. So, everybody has to play the same way hopefully in all areas of the game not just defensively but through the neutral zone and offensively as well."

The Wild woNHL conference standingsn't make any lineup changes from the team's 4-3 shootout win on Saturday at home against Toronto.

That means goalie Cam Talbot will be back in net to kick off this four-game road trip, and captain Jared Spurgeon remains out with a lower-body injury.

On Saturday, the Maple Leafs erased a three-goal deficit in the second period and two goals came on the power play. With the Oilers boasting the NHL's best power play, the message Tuesday morning to Wild players was to stay out of the penalty box.

"It's a given," Evason said. "We all know the special people they have on their hockey club, and we give them continual opportunities not only to score on the power play but get confidence and touches, it's not in favor of us."

Projected lineup:

Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno

Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello

Rem Pitlick-Victor Rask-Kevin Fiala

Brandon Duhaime-Nico Sturm-Nick Bjugstad

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill-Alex Goligoski

Jordie Benn-Dmitry Kulikov

Cam Talbot

Key numbers:

4-2-1: Record for the Wild over its last seven road games.

6: Goals from Ryan Hartman in his past nine contests.

11: Points by Kirill Kaprizov during a season-long five-game point streak.

18-7-1: Run by the Wild over the team's last 26 games vs. the Oilers.

298: Career assists for winger Mats Zuccarello.

About the Oilers:

Edmonton has dropped two straight games for the first time this season. McDavid didn't factor into the Oilers' offense on Sunday in a 5-1 loss to the Kings, just the third game this season he's been held pointless. Still, McDavid ranks second in NHL scoring with 42 points. Draisaitl is first with 43 points. The Oilers, sitting in third, are three points behind the first-place Wild in the Western Conference.

about the writer

about the writer

Sarah McLellan

Minnesota Wild and NHL

Sarah McLellan covers the Wild and NHL. Before joining the Star Tribune in November 2017, she spent five years covering the Coyotes for The Arizona Republic.

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