Bouchard scores twice, Oilers defeat Wild for 6th straight win

EDMONTON -- Evan Bouchard’s second goal of the game broke a tie in the third period for the Edmonton Oilers in their sixth straight win, 4-3 against the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Place on Friday.

Bouchard, who also had an assist, scored the game-winner at 1:32 when he one-timed Leon Draisaitl’s feed on a power play past Marc-Andre Fleury. Bouchard has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) during a 10-game point streak.

“The last two weeks, we’ve seen a lot of goals generated from his shot,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “His shot was 97 miles an hour, and that doesn’t hurt.

“It’s a skill. There’s plenty of guys that can place a shot in the right position, but not many can hammer it like that. There’s very few that can do both.”

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had four assists, and Draisaitl and Connor McDavid each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, (11-12-1), who played the second of a six-game homestand and improved to 8-3-0 since Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12. Stuart Skinner made 17 saves.

“I think it’s more so when the team’s doing well than when individuals do well,” Bouchard said. “And I think that’s the case right now.”

Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist, and Fleury made 36 saves for the Wild (9-12-4), who have lost back-to-back games after winning their first four under coach John Hynes. Minnesota lost 2-0 at the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

“I didn't have any problem with the effort. I thought we were up against it coming into the game, and that's what the schedule is,” Hynes said. “But I really liked the compete and the battle that we had.

“Even near the end there, we gave ourselves a chance to be able to tie it and get it to overtime, possibly, on the 6-on-5, so unfortunately it didn't go our way tonight.”

Bouchard gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 15:16 of the first period when he took a pass from Nugent-Hopkins and scored with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.

The Oilers outshot the Wild 18-4 in the first.

“It’s not an excuse, but it was a tough back-to-back,” Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton said. “But we played for a full 60 [minutes] tonight. We had opportunities to shoot the puck, so it couldn’t have looked as bad as that in the first period.

“But we definitely were on our heels to start the game. We gave ourselves a chance at the end. We were in until the final buzzer.”

The Wild responded with two goals in the opening minute of the second period. Boldy tied it 1-1 just 15 seconds in on a rebound in front, then fed Joel Eriksson Ek in the right circle to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead at 41 seconds.

“We dominate for 21 minutes and we’re down 2-1, and that’s tough,” Knoblauch said. “But we stayed the course, didn’t change our game plan.

“I didn’t hear complaining or frustration on the bench. It was, 'All right, let’s get back to work.' We recovered from it, whereas two or three weeks ago it might be a different story.”

McDavid quickly tied it 2-2 at 1:21, working his way around Middleton in the right circle before stuffing a backhand past Fleury from behind the goal line at the far post.

Connor Dewar put Minnesota back in front 3-2 at 11:58, but Draisaitl one-timed a feed from Nugent-Hopkins for a power-play goal at 18:30 to tie it 3-3.

Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin left the game in the opening minute of the third after a hit into the boards from Oilers forward Evander Kane, who was not penalized on the play.

“Brods is a huge part of our team, a difference-maker, he plays so many minutes, so many good minutes against top lines,” Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman said. “Obviously, that stinks. It’s part of the game. We have a tight-knit group that sticks up for each other.

“Obviously, it could have gone different ways, match penalty, whatever it is, but sometimes it doesn’t go that way. It is what it is.”

NOTES: Bouchard joined Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey as the only defensemen in franchise history with a point streak of at least 10 games. Coffey did it seven times, including a 28-game run (55 points; 16 goals, 39 assists) during the 1985-86 season. … McDavid extended his point streak to eight games (21 points; five goals, 16 assists). … Skinner is 6-0-0 with a 1.82 goals-against average and .932 save percentage during Edmonton’s winning streak. … It was the fifth time Nugent-Hopkins had four assists in his NHL career. … Middleton and Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon each blocked five shots. Spurgeon led all skaters with 28:33 of ice time.