GAME RECAP: Wild 5, Oilers 1

ST. PAUL, MN - Leon Draisaitl scored his 51st goal of the season on the powerplay, but it wasn't enough as the Wild fought to a 5-1 victory on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center.
Draisaitl's power-play tally set the Oilers record with 21 in a season, surpassing both Ryan Smyth and Wayne Gretzky. The German achieved the milestone by ripping a low shot through a Zach Hyman screen and past Cam Talbot in the third period. It was one of the few bright spots for the Oilers in a building where they haven't seen a lot of success, with the Wild sporting a 30-15-4 all-time record against Edmonton at Xcel Energy Center.
The Wild offence was paced by the play of Kevin Fiala and Ryan Hartman who scored twice apiece, while Fredrick Gaudreau added the final tally in the road game setback. The Wild improved their impressive home ice record as of late to 9-0-1 in their last 10 games and earned their sixth-straight win over the Oilers.

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FIRST BLOOD

Frederick Gaudreau opened the scoring for the Wild just 5:37 into the first period. Duncan Keith collected the puck down low and tossed an errant backhand pass into the slot which was swiftly intercepted by the Bromont, QC product. Gaudreau took the turnover across the face of Koskinen and tucked it neatly into the Oilers net for his 11th goal of the season.
The goal was the 38th time the Wild have opened the scoring this season, sporting a 30-7-1 when doing so.

PLAY OF THE GAME

The Wild caught the Oilers on a cycle to double their lead at the 4:01 mark in the second period. The Minnesota second-line was buzzing in the Edmonton zone with former Oiler Dmitry Kulikov, finding Matt Boldy who faked like he was about to shoot before sliding the puck to Kevin Fiala in the slot. The Swiss forward ripped a low wrister past the right pad of Koskinen for his 25th goal and 64th point -- both career highs. The Fiala goal was the Wild's first shot of the period and came against the run of play at the time.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Fiala would have cashed his second of the night a few minutes after his first if it wasn't for the glove of Mikko Koskinen. Brett Kulak dished a misplaced pass from behind the net and directly onto the tape of buzzing Fiala who took his time and laced a wrister towards the top corner of the net Oilers net. Koskinen was up to the task, flashing the leather on the point-blank attempt.

TURNING POINT

The turning point was another Oilers turnover.
Wild star Kirill Kaprizov was able to out-muscle a trio of Oilers on the half wall, sending a feed to a wide-open Ryan Hartman in front of Koskinen. A quick deke later and the puck was in the back of the Oilers net for the fourth time in the game. The goal snuffed out any momentum the Oilers were seeming to muster and forced Head Coach Jay Woodcroft to take a timeout.

TOP PERFORMER

Kevin Fiala was once again the Oilers nemesis on Tuesday night. After scoring twice and adding an assist back in the Oilers last matchup against the Wild back on Feb. 20, the 25-year-old was all over the ice, scoring a pair of goals on the evening.
Fiala got his second midway through the second period, collecting an Evan Bouchard turnover and placing a perfect wrister past Koskinen from a sharp angle.

PARTING WORDS

Zach Hyman on the result:
"We had trouble breaking out, that's not just on the defence, it's on the whole group to support each other. We just didn't execute."
Hyman on the losses to Minnesota:
"I don't think we've played our best in any of the games we've played them. It's not like we come into any of the games and left feeling good about ourselves. We didn't execute on very many plays."
"It's three games right. Good for them, they're a good team and they're deep, but we're a good team we just haven't played our best (against them)."

Hyman on a team commitment to defence to prevent giveaways:
"There's more to it than that (the defence turning over the puck). We're all good hockey players. There's holding a guy up allowing your defence an extra second. There are little plays that go unnoticed from above that are noticed by the players -- being able to help our D in different scenarios. When you feel like you're on an island it's easier to make mistakes. Mistakes do happen, but as a group, we have to be better and take care of each other."
Hyman on what the loss means in the broader scope of the season:
"It's an 82-game season and I think we've put ourselves in a very good position. I think that we've been playing really well as of late. You don't want to have blips on the radar, but you're only human. It's one of those things where you get back at it the next day and you make it a blip. We did that after the Calgary game and we're going to do it after this one."
Evander Kane on tonight's performance:
"That's definitely not what we wanted to transpire tonight. We played pretty well in the first period, we made a mistake and they are going to happen. We came out flat in the second period, we didn't have everyone going tonight and they took advantage of their opportunities."

Kane on the turnovers:
"The goals that they scored, the great majority of them we handed them. We did spend some time in the offensive zone and were able to grind them, but we didn't get the bounces we would like. It didn't feel as lopsided as the score indicates, but at the same time we can't be giving up those kinds of opportunities on teams that can capitalize."
"Mistakes are going to happen, you just have to try and limit them. We didn't do a very good job of that."
Kane on the mood in the locker room:
Obviously, we're not happy, nobody's happy in the room, I certainly wasn't. At the same time, we can't sit back and concern ourselves too much with this game. We have to bury it and move on to Nashville, who is in the race for a wild card spot and we're looking to solidify our spot."
Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on the turnovers leading to goals:
"We thought we were the authors of a lot of the chances against. With our breakout execution and our netplay, we can be better."
"We've tried to have the mindset of taking it one day at a time. Today wasn't our finest hour, we didn't come away with any points in a tough building."

Coach Woodcroft on mixing lines:
"Just trying to find a spark. I thought we were a little flat and so I moved some pieces around. Unfortunately, we didn't get what we wanted there, but we have a lot of good forwards and I know they'll respond."
Coach Woodcroft on the lessons from the game:
"What I thought about that game tonight, it was a heavy game. It was a game where every shift mattered. I didn't think we leaked a whole bunch of chances or spent a numerous amount of time in our own end. I think at the end of the night we gave up 23 shots, but are there moments that we can be a lot better? If I were to nutshell it I'd say our breakout execution and our netplay has to get a whole lot better especially against a team of that calibre."