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 On Thursday, the Wild won their third game in a row since Torchetti
replaced Mike Yeo as the team's head coach, a 5-2 decision over the
Edmonton Oilers.
All three of those wins have come on the road.
"If they know that they compete for each other, that's the thing
moving forward," said Torchetti of the team's turnaround. "If we
keep competing and battling ... Our wall plays were huge for us
tonight, everybody wanted to take a hit, everyone was driving
through the puck taking the body. We were getting pucks out and we
were getting the job done defensively."
While Torchetti credited his team's work ethic, Austrian right
winger Thomas Vanek was the offensive lynchpin. He celebrated his
800th career NHL game in style, with a goal and an assist, including
the game winner.
And Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves in a winning effort.
"It's good, we're playing good hockey right now and we're getting
rewarded for it," said Kuemper. "It's nice to see the smiles in
everyone's faces again and having some smiles coming to the rink
again makes it a lot easier. Just the way we're working for each
other right now and cheering each other on, it's contagious and
we're getting a lot of success."
"It's a world of difference, it feels like," said Wild center
Charlie Coyle. "All of sudden we feel good about ourselves, our
confidence is growing each game and it's a huge road trip for us.
Through the first eight minutes, the Oilers had plenty of jump and
outshot the Wild 7-1. Minnesota looked like a team that had played
the previous night in Calgary -- a step behind Edmonton at both ends
of the ice.
That early surge was halted when Oilers left winger Lauri Korpikoski
took a high-sticking minor and Wild right winger Jason Pominville
scored on the ensuing power play at 9:30 on Minnesota's third shot
of the period.
Edmonton dusted itself off and regained the momentum by tying it 29
seconds later as rookie center Connor McDavid tapped home a pass
from left winger Benoit Pouliot to make it 1-1.
The Wild power play struck again at 13:16 as defenseman Matt Dumba
banked a pass of the skate of Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.
"The power play obviously was a big part of their success, getting
the two off the bat," said Oilers coach Todd McLellan. "They seamed
us a number of times, which we wanted to prevent, but we were unable
to do that. Then they scored on some secondary chances in and around
the paint. Credit to them, but obviously an area we need to fix."
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With 2:41 left in the period, the Oilers tied it 2-2 with 2012
first-overall draft pick Nail Yakupov scoring only his fifth goal of
the season. The Russian right winger broke a nine-game pointless
drought with a bad-angle wrist shot that eluded Minnesota goaltender
Darcy Kuemper.
"I felt pretty good tonight," said Yakupov. "I had a lot of energy
and was using my legs. I thought our line did pretty good on the
forecheck and along the walls. We supported each other well.
Vanek put a puck over the shoulder of Oilers goalie Cam Talbot at
4:48 to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead.
It looked as if the Oilers had drawn level for a third time, when
left winger Taylor Hall put the puck in the net on a delayed
Minnesota penalty. But the referees ruled that the Wild had
controlled the puck before it got to Hall, and blew the play dead.
The Oilers did not score on the ensuing power play.
"I was told they had 100 per cent control," said McLellan. "Hard to
argue with that. Do I agree with it? When we start winning more
games, I'll start disagreeing with more calls."
Kuemper laid out at full stretch to deny Yakupov's breakaway effort
before center Mikael Granlund made it 4-2 with 4:23 left in the
second on the Wild's 17th shot.
Coyle put a bow on the win with a late third period empty-net goal.
NOTES: Oilers RW Zack Kassian missed his second straight game
because of illness but is expected to return to the lineup this
weekend. ... The Oilers called up D Nikita Nikitin from their AHL
affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif., on Wednesday, as D Eric Gryba
(knee) was placed on injured reserve. Nikitin was a healthy scratch.
... The Oilers also recalled G Anders Nilsson from Bakersfield and
sent down G Laurent Brossoit, who gave up only one goal in
Saturday's shootout loss to Winnipeg. Brossoit needs regular starts
in the minors. ... The Oilers have already used 31 different skaters
and three goalies this season. ... Wild D Marco Scandella missed his
second straight game with an undisclosed injury. ... The Wild
scratched LW Chris Porter and G Niklas Backstrom, as the team is
carrying three goalies.
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