The defense and goaltending shined bright Monday night as the Minnesota Wild held off the high-powered Edmonton Oilers 2-1 inside the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Frederic Gaudreau scored the game-deciding goal midway through the second period on a pressure-packed feed from Matt Boldy. And it was Boldy’s power-play goal in the first period that gave the Wild a 1-0 lead in the opening game of their four game homestand.
It's your day no. 12 😏#mnwild pic.twitter.com/ItWF8Tm5y4
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 13, 2022
Minnesota had a 2-1 lead on a goal by Matt Dumba before an offsides call on a challenge by Edmonton was upheld. Gaudreau was just inches inside the blue line before the puck entered the zone, but Gaudreau got his revenge minutes later with his fifth goal of the season.
More of these in the 3rd period 🤞#mnwild pic.twitter.com/UIAcqtlFNR
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 13, 2022
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 of 21 shots and made six of his saves when the Wild was killing penalties. Edmonton, which boasted a power play ranked No. 1 in the league at about 30%, was just 1-of-5 with the man advantage.
Minnesota has flipped the script after starting the season 5-5-1. After winning 10 of the last 17 games they find themselves at 15-11-2 and 8-3 in their last 11. The Wild are now within five points of the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division.
Up next: Wild vs. Red Wings at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on TNT
