Takeaways: Wild reach season-high goal total with 7-3 rout of Oilers

Jesper Wallstedt had to be perfect to defeat the Oilers 1-0 earlier this season.

The goaltender had a much bigger lead to work with in the rematch.

The Wild blitzed Edmonton 7-3 at Rogers Place on Saturday, Jan. 31, to sweep the Oilers 3-0 and extend their current win streak to three games after scoring a season high in goals.

“All four lines, I thought all six ‘D’ contributed,” coach John Hynes told reporters in Edmonton. “Our goaltender played well, and that’s what we needed against this team was to have a complete team game.”

Quinn Hughes, Joel Eriksson Ek, Mats Zuccarello and Brock Faber had a goal and assist each, Kirill Kaprizov netted his team-leading 30th goal, and even Wallstedt factored into the offense by picking up an assist to go along with his 39 saves.

“He was big for us,” Hynes said of Wallstedt. “They had some good looks at certain times, and again to win you have to get key saves at key times, and we got that tonight.”

Zuccarello delivered yet another big goal, snapping a 2-2 tie only 35 seconds into the second period off a Ryan Hartman faceoff win.

In all, the Wild had 15 players earn at least a point to upstage Oilers stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who combined for a goal and assist.

The Wild chased Edmonton goalie Tristan Jarry after he allowed five goals on 20 shots. Connor Ingram made seven stops in relief.

“It’s good to see us be able to get some scoring throughout the lineup,” Hynes said. “That always gives you a competitive advantage.”

Wallstedt, who the Oilers passed on in the 2021 draft by trading the Wild the pick they used to select Wallstedt in the first round, shut out Edmonton on Dec. 2 before Filip Gustavsson won 5-2 on Dec. 20.

But the Oilers finally scored on Wallstedt when Draisaitl intercepted a Marcus Johansson clear and skated to the middle for a wrister 3:16 into the first period.

Hughes’ eight-game assist streak is the longest in team history for a defenseman, and his eight-game point streak is also a first for a Wild defenseman. Wallstedt also registered an assist for his first NHL point by corralling the Oilers’ clear down the ice before Hughes took over.

Only 1:46 later, McDavid banked in a shot off teammate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but the Wild took advantage of a late goalie interference penalty after Zach Hyman collided with Wallstedt. On the ensuing power play, Eriksson Ek shuffled a rebound to Kaprizov for the put back with 36 seconds left.

Kaprizov became only the second Wild player with four 30-goal seasons after Marian Gaborik posted five. At 215 career goals, Kaprizov is four away from tying Gaborik for the franchise record.

“The power play came up big to get us our footing in the first,” Hynes said.

After the first whistle of the second period, Hartman sent the puck to Zuccarello off an offensive-zone faceoff, and Zuccarello connected on a one-timer; all but two of his nine goals have been tying, go-ahead or game-winning goals.

Later in the second, after Draisaitl fanned on a McDavid pass, the Wild went the other way, and Tarasenko wired in a shot off the rush with 4:20 remaining.

“When their top lines were out there, a lot of times they were looking to make one or two more plays and sometimes I was in position,” Wallstedt said. “[Sometimes] I was out of position, but it worked out well.”

Pitlick one-timed in his second goal of the season 9:42 into the third period.

The Oilers’ Jack Roslovic finished off a wrap-around pass just 3:01 later, but Faber skated in alone with 5:43 to go to bury the season-high seventh goal for the Wild.

BOXSCORE: Wild 7, Edmonton 3

The Wild penalty kill went 2-for-2 against the NHL’s best power play.

The Wild’s recent wins haven’t been conventional, what with them rallying from being down 3-0 to overcome the Blackhawks in a shootout and then eking by the Flames for a misleading 4-1 victory.

But their performance against Oilers was much more textbook: Even though they trailed twice, they responded. Wallstedt was sharp, especially against McDavid, and the Wild were better on special teams.