PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Wild

The Edmonton Oilers can make it six wins in a row on Friday night when they continue their six-game homestand at Rogers Place against the Minnesota Wild.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 7:00 PM MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Wild

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers will put their five-game winning streak on the line against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night when they continue their six-game homestand at Rogers Place, while the Wild are attempting to restart their win streak after their four-game run under Head Coach John Hynes came to an end last night in a 2-0 shutout defeat to the Vancouver Canucks.

“It's a good chance for us to kind of establish this building as a tough building to come into,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “Last night kind of started that and we’re going to have to keep building on it, but I think we got five more here at home, so it’s a nice chance to set ourselves up here.”

The Oilers are winners of five in a row after cruising to a 6-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in the first game of their six-game homestand on Wednesday. Ryan McLeod and Mattias Ekholm each found the back of the net in the first 41 seconds of regulation, marking the second-fastest two goals to start a game in Oilers franchise history.

Since Head Coach Kris Knoblauch’s arrival behind the bench for the first time in Oil Country on Nov. 13, the Oilers are 7-3-0 in 10 games, including a perfect 5-0-0 record on home ice.

“Obviously a lot of good signs,” McDavid said of the win streak. “It's something that we want to keep going. It feels good in the room. You can feel like there's a little bit of momentum and it shows on the ice.”

Zach Hyman recorded two of his three goals on Wednesday as part of his second hat trick of the season in a four-goal first period for the Blue & Orange, while Connor McDavid and Mattias Janmark chipped in with three helpers apiece.

Hyman pushed his team-leading goal total to 15 and is now one of eight players in the NHL with 15-plus goals, with the Toronto, Ont. product sitting tied for fourth in League scoring alongside Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor.

“He's been great. He's really found his groove lately, especially around the net,” McDavid said of Hyman. “I think that first goal is a really nice goal. The second one is a great shot. That's a harder shot than he made it look and the third one he finishes off, so he's done a lot of good things and it's good to see him putting him in the net. He's a great guy who deserves that.”

Warren Foegele played a key role in the victory on Edmonton’s trustworthy third line with Janmark and Ryan McLeod by pitching in with a goal and assist in front of Stuart Skinner, who held down the crease to secure his fifth straight win.

Skinner started the season 1-5-1 with a 3.87 goals-against average over his first eight appearances (seven starts), but now owns a 1.58 GAA during his five-game win streak – the third lowest GAA in the NHL since Nov. 24 among goalies with at least three games played.

Both Skinner’s individual numbers and Edmonton’s collective defence have improved hand-in-hand with a team commitment to reducing chances in their own zone, odd-man rushes against, and getting pucks into forwards hands a lot quicker off breakouts.

“It does a lot for the team. It just breeds confidence for the entire team,” Knoblauch said his team’s number-one netminder. “Often when your goalie is struggling, the defencemen are always hesitant because they don't want to get involved in the play; they don't want to make a mistake. When that happens, they're not playing their game and they ultimately make more mistakes. 

“But I think when the defence is playing well and they're playing confident, it gives the goalie a lot of confidence and they can play their game. When the goalie is playing well, it breeds off there. Everyone just feeds off themselves or each other and it just builds your team game, and I think our defense has been playing outstanding."

The Oilers have outscored their opponents 26-8 over their current five-game win streak and are showing the ability to keep their opponents off the scoresheet through a committed five-man approach.

“It's the forwards tracking back hard and the forwards blocking shots, doing their job on the forecheck and having an F3 [high],” Nugent-Hopkins said.

“It's so much more than just making our D defend alone and then making our goalie make huge saves when we need them to. It takes everybody, and I think that's something that as a group, a lot of us have been together for a long time and it's something that we've learned over the years is that it takes everybody.”

The Wild are outscoring opponents 18-7 over their last five games and are a notoriously difficult opponent for the Oilers after claiming the two points in nine of their last 10 meetings (9-1-0), including a 7-4 victory at Xcel Energy Centre earlier this season.

Edmonton’s 1-9-0 record is their worst record against any single opponent in the NHL over that 10-game span, and it’ll take them continuing to display strong defending and the offence to go along with it to begin turning their fortunes around against Minnesota.

VIDEO

• AROUND THE RINK | Crushing Cancer
• RAW | Connor McDavid
• RAW | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
• RAW | Coach Kris Knoblauch
• Access Insurance Goal of the Game
• ANALYSIS | Post-Game vs. Hurricanes
• OILERS TODAY | Post-Game vs. Hurricanes

WRITTEN

• RELEASE: Shirts Off Our Backs presented by Rogers returns Friday
• POST-GAME: Foegele, McLeod, Janmark forming trustworthy third line
• GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Hurricanes 1