By Jess Myers, Sports Xchange
ST. PAUL - Right winger Jordan Eberle, left winger David Perron and left winger Taylor Hall scored in a shootout, lifting the Edmonton Oilers to a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.
Trailing 3-1 midway through the third period, the Oilers got goals from Perron and Eberle late in regulation, then the shootout goals for their third win in the past four games.
Edmonton (23-35-8) got 28 saves from goaltender Victor Fasth, who was making his first start for the Oilers after coming over from the Anaheim Ducks in a March 4 trade.
The Wild (34-22-9) got first-period goals from left winger Zach Parise, defenseman Jared Spurgeon and right winger Jason Pominville in a 4:16 span but could not muster any more offense and dropped their third game in a row.
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After going the first eight minutes of the game without a shot on goal, the Wild exploded for three goals in a 4:16 span.
Parise, playing in his 600th career game, started the run with a power play goal, depositing his own rebound after Fasth made a sprawling pad save.
Spurgeon was credited with the goal after his shot from the blue line deflected off Edmonton defenseman Justin Schultz’s leg and high into the net.
After Pominville scored his team-leading 24th goal of the season for Minnesota, the Oilers answered when defenseman Jeff Petry banked a wide-angle shot off the skate of Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin and beyond the reach of Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper. It was Petry’s fifth goal of the season and his first point since before the Olympic break.
The scoreless second period was a festival of special teams. The Wild killed off three penalties and the Oilers survived an 84-second stretch of a Minnesota two-man advantage.
Perron scored midway through the third period to ramp up the pressure on Minnesota, and Eberle forged a 3-3 tie with just under five minutes left in regulation, scoring after Kuemper gave up a meaty rebound of a dump-in from center ice by defenseman Andrew Ference.
Kuemper finished with 23 saves. Fasth allowed shootout goals by Parise and center Mikko Koivu but stopped Pominville and left winger Matt Moulson for the win.
NOTES: The start of Tuesday’s game was delayed for a few minutes as the Wild held an on-ice ceremony honoring LW Matt Cooke, who was playing in his 1,000th NHL game. Cooke, with his family on hand, was presented with a ceremonial silver stick and an all-terrain vehicle. ... Oilers rookie D Oscar Klefbom made his NHL debut after being recalled from AHL Oklahoma City. His first NHL game came in the same building where he first technically became an Oiler, as Edmonton picked the Swede in the first round of the 2011 draft, held at Xcel Energy Center. ... Wild C Mikael Granlund, who led Team Finland offensively at the Olympics, assisted on two of Minnesota’s three first period goals, giving him 14 points in the Wild’s last 13 games.
