"I've been back in this building a couple times but never got to start," Talbot said. "It's nice. This place will always have a place in our heart, we started our family here and it was a great building to play in. Still have a lot of friends here so it's one of those things that you look forward to coming back every time. Obviously it's more fun when you get a big win."
The secret sauce for Talbot on Tuesday was his rebound control.
Virtually every one of the 39 shots he saw was a one-and-done opportunity for the Oilers, with few, if any, Grade-A chances coming on second or third-chance tries.
Talbot was especially large in the second period, a frame played largely in the zone right in front of him. The Oilers scored their lone goal in the second, but Talbot stopped 19 of 20 shots in the middle period, a number of them gigantic.
"They're going to get shots, right? And to not give up that second and third gritty [shots] to them ... they're going to get their skilled shots," Evason said. "They're going to get opportunities to shoot pucks, but it's that second, third one [that hurt]. Not only did Cam do a good job of smothering, but our D and the low forward, we got pucks the heck out of that area so they didn't have more opportunities like that."
Talbot's 14 wins are tied with Toronto's Jack Campbell for most in the NHL, the same Campbell that Talbot outdueled in St. Paul on Sunday.
3. Offense from defense
Wild captain Jared Spurgeon missed his eighth consecutive game in his hometown on Tuesday night, but the club's blueliners continued their superb play during that stretch.
Not only have they been more than solid in his absence, but they've continued to flourish offensively.
Jonas Brodin earned an assist on Eriksson Ek's goal early, then added an absolutely gorgeous first assist on Victor Rask's humongous third-period marker that doubled Minnesota's lead and made it a 3-1 game with 14:27 to play in regulation.