Mikael Granlund scored with 5:38 left in the third period and the Minnesota Wild (7-3-2) rallied for what head coach Bruce Boudreau called a “gutsy” 4-3 win in Edmonton Tuesday night.
It was back-and-forth all night, with the Wild responding four times as the Oilers kept taking the lead. Leon Draisaitl scored first and Zach Parise answered with his fourth goal of the season on a power play six minutes later.
The best player on the planet, Connor McDavid, made it 2-1 Oilers early in the second period, to which Jared Spurgeon responded with a goal to make it 2-2. Less than a minute later, Alex Chiasson beat Alex Stalock to give Edmonton a 3-2 lead.
Again, Minnesota responded, doing so on the power play when Eric Staal lit the lamp with 1:40 left in the middle period.
The Wild buckled down defensively in the third and got the go-ahead goal – another power play tally – from Granlund.
Minnesota was perfect on special teams, going 3-for-3 on the power play while killing all five Edmonton PPs.
“We were the better team, five-on-five, but special teams cost us,” McDavid said after the game, via ESPN. “Our power play didn’t do anything (0 for 5) and they went three-for-three on their power play. That’s not good.”
Minnesota has won six of seven and now gets a few, much-needed days off before playing at St. Louis on Saturday, followed by three games in California next week.
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