A strong start by the Wild was erased by a rally by the Edmonton Oilers in Minnesota’s 4-3 shootout loss Tuesday night at the Xcel Energy Center, the Star Tribune reports.
The loss comes two days after the Wild fell in a shootout to the St. Louis Blues Sunday night at Xcel, 3-2.
The Wild dominated the first period, jumping out to a three-goal lead over the Oilers. Zach Parise struck first for the Wild with a wrist shot at 11:07, followed by a deflected shot by Jared Spurgeon that put the team up 2-0 at 13:46.
Jason Pominville scored the Wild’s third goal of the period at 15:23, but the Oilers’ Jeff Petry cut the lead to 3-1 with a goal at 16:55.
After a scoreless second period, the Oilers crept back against the Wild, first with a goal by David Perron at 11:06 to bring the Oilers within one. The Oilers scored again with a goal by Jordan Eberle at 16:55 to tie the game at 3-3, and the teams went scoreless the rest of the third period to force the game into the shootout.
The Oilers outscored the Wild 3-2 in the shootout to secure the victory. Eberle, Perron and Taylor Hall each scored for Edmonton, while Mikko Koivu and Parise scored for the Wild.
Despite the loss, two Wild members hit milestones at the game, Sports Illustrated says. Matt Cooke played in his 1,000th game while Parise played in his 600th.
The game also marked the 500th Wild sellout at the Xcel Energy Center.
The team returns to Xcel Thursday night to take on the New York Rangers.
Tonight's #mnwild and #oilers attendance at @XcelEnergyCtr is 18,650 — the 500th sellout in Wild history! Thank you fans!
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 12, 2014
