Wild fall 5-2 in Edmonton, their second loss in a row

EDMONTON, Alberta — For the first time in three games, the Wild didn't squander a multi-goal lead.

That's because they never were ahead.

Although they did regroup after falling behind early, the Wild couldn't surpass the Oilers and faded 5-2 on Friday in front of 17,589 at Rogers Place to drop two in a row before their road trip concludes Saturday at Vancouver.

"We have to do a few more things correctly defending-wise in order to give ourselves a chance," Wild coach Dean Evason said, "because we're not a team that's going to go out and score five or six a night. That's not who we are."

Kailer Yamamoto's first goal of the season for Edmonton was the difference, a second-period tiebreaker that held up amid a 42-save effort from goaltender Stuart Skinner.

NHL-leading scorer also Connor McDavid capitalized to extend his goal streak to seven games, while Kirill Kaprizov's goal streak ended at seven.

(Kaprizov did have one puck go in the net, but Edmonton challenged for goaltender interference and video review ruled Kaprizov pushed Skinner's pad into the net to cause the goal.)

The winger, however, kept his career-best and franchise-record point streak going, pushing it to 14 games with an assist.

"I honestly don't remember their goalie making too many outstanding saves," Evason said. "We were hitting him with a lot of pucks, and our willingness to get pucks there. It just wasn't the quality that we needed to score."

The Wild were in rally mode shortly after puck drop, with the Oilers' Derek Ryan jamming in his own rebound at 2 minutes, 45 seconds of the first period after a Jake Middleton giveaway deep in Wild territory.

That Edmonton advantage doubled at 8:59 on the power play when McDavid was left all alone on the right side to fling the puck by Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. McDavid is atop the NHL leaderboard in goals (25) and points (54) and is on an eight-game point streak.

"They're skilled players," Joel Eriksson Ek said, "and they're going to make plays if we give them time and we did today."

But the Wild didn't exit the period emptyhanded.

After Kaprizov's overturned goal, Eriksson Ek intercepted a behind-the-net pass by the Oilers and skated to the front for a rising shot by Skinner at 11:24 for his fourth goal over his last five games.

Then 6:22 into the second, Mats Zuccarello delivered the equalizer on the power play, a shot from the slot set up by Kaprizov.

Zuccarello now has 14 points in his past 14 games, and Kaprizov is up to 21 points during his 14-game point streak; his run is the third longest in the NHL this season, trailing only the active 21-game streak by Toronto's Mitch Marner and a 16-game blitz by Dallas' Jason Robertson.

Making a comeback instead of preventing one seemed to suit the Wild better after they coughed up a two-goal lead in the 5-3 loss at Calgary on Wednesday and eked out a 6-5 shootout win at Dallas last Sunday despite blowing a four-goal cushion in the third period.

But the Wild didn't find the go-ahead goal.

That belonged to Edmonton: Yamamoto tipped in a Darnell Nurse point shot with 7:06 to go in the second period.

The Wild had a chance for another tying goal on the power play that spilled over to the start of the third, but they failed to convert. They finished 1-for-5.

"We got enough at the net," Evason said. "It just wasn't enough quality to score goals in the NHL."

As for the Oilers, their league-leading power play went 2-for-3.

Their second goal was an insurance tally 3:43 into the third, an uncontested shot from Leon Draisaitl that McDavid assisted on for his second point of the night. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked up his second assist on the goal and later added an empty-net goal with nine seconds to go.

"I took a bad penalty," said Matt Dumba, whose hooking penalty preceded Draisaitl's goal. "That can't happen."

Fleury totaled 33 saves for the Wild, and this result split the season series between these two Western Conference rivals.

The Wild won the first meeting 5-3 on Dec. 1 at Xcel Energy Center, and they'll also host the rubber match on Monday back in St. Paul.

But before then, they'll wrap up this four-game trip against the Canucks.

"We can't lose three games in a row," Fleury said. "We always gotta reset for the next one."