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 Trailing in the third period, the Wild got goals from Suter and
center Charlie Coyle just 43 seconds apart, rallying to beat the
Oilers 4-3 to remain perfect at home.
Suter scored his second goal of the game to forge a 3-3 tie, and on
the next shift, Coyle swept a puck past Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, as
Minnesota improved to 4-0-0 at Xcel Energy Center.
"Like I've said since I've been here, points are good but wins are
more important," said Suter, after his third career multi-goal game.
"I thought our forwards worked hard. They were, I think, able to
back their forwards off to give us some more room back there so I
think they deserve most of the credit."
Suter and defenseman Marco Scandella had first-period goals for the
Wild (6-2-1), who saw a 2-0 lead slip away, but won thanks in part
to 22 saves from goalie Devan Dubnyk, including a toe stop of
McDavid on the doorstep late in the third.
For the Oilers, defenseman Darnell Nurse scored his first career
goal to give Edmonton (3-7-0) a 3-2 lead in the third period, but
they could not sustain it. Left winger Taylor Hall had a goal and an
assist, and right winger Iiro Pakarinen scored for the Oilers, who
got 24 saves from Talbot but lost their third game in a row.
"That's a tough one to lose," Hall said. "You're winning in the
third period on the road. Those have to translate into wins. We
spent a lot of time in our end and they capitalized on a couple."
The Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the opening period was half
over. Just minutes after a shot by right winger Jason Pominville
clanked the crossbar, Suter's seeing-eye shot from the top of the
left circle made its way through a crowd and hit the top left corner
of the net before Talbot could react.
"I'm happy to see him get rewarded, because I feel that his play has
been very strong all year," Wild coach Mike Yeo said, after Suter
matched his goal total from all of last season on Tuesday. "He's
been factoring in, getting a lot of assists, and he's been shooting
a lot of pucks. There's been a lot of pucks that I feel he's been
unlucky not to score on, just because we've had good net front and
the pucks are getting through."
On the next shift, Wild defenseman Matt Dumba collided hard with
Oilers left winger Lauri Korpikoski, then Dumba skated away when the
Oilers challenged him to a fight. Minnesota emerged with a power
play and doubled its lead when Scandella scored off a deflection
that eluded Talbot on the glove side. It was Scandella's first goal
of the season.
"I'm not saying we need to play perfect," Oilers first-year coach
Todd McLellan said. "We're going to make mistakes, but the real
preventable ones are the ones that are killing us right now. Suter
scored two goals tonight and both of them went off our sticks.
That's hockey, that happens."
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Edmonton got one back before the period was over when Hall capped
off a scramble in front of the Wild next, popping the rebound of a
puck aided along by right winger Nail Yakupov past Dubnyk. It was
the second goal in as many games for Hall.
In the middle period, Hall's pass from below the goal line was
spot-on to Pakarinen, who was playing just his second game for
Edmonton after being called up last week. Pakarinen's shot deflected
off Dumba's knee, changing directions just enough to fool Dubnyk and
tie the game at 2-2.
Oilers left winger Rob Klinkhammer suffered an apparent lower-body
injury in the first period during a collision in the corner behind
Dubnyk. Klinkhammer limped to the bench and did not return to the
game.
NOTES: With Oilers D Justin Schultz out of the lineup, the team
called up D Darnell Nurse to make his season debut. Nurse, drafted
seventh overall by Edmonton in 2013, played his first two NHL games
for the Oilers last season. Schultz, who left early from the Oilers'
home game Sunday, did not make the trip to Minnesota. The team has
not disclosed the reason for his absence. ... Tuesday's game was the
700th of Wild LW Zach Parise's career. Originally drafted by the
Devils, he spent his first 502 games in New Jersey before signing as
a free agent in his home state in the summer of 2012. ... This was
the Oilers' only road game in a stretch where they are playing seven
of eight games at home. They open a four-game homestand Thursday
against the Montreal Canadiens. ... The Wild's next game is a
playoff rematch against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
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