Taylor Hall or Steve Staios. Jordan Eberle or Sheldon Souray. Magnus Paajarvi or Jarret Stoll, Ethan Moreau or Raffi Torres. Nikolai Khabibulin or Dwayne Roloson.
Doesn't matter who the Edmonton Oilers roll out onto the ice, for some reason, the Wild's got their number here in St. Paul, where Minnesota defeated the Oilers for the 14th consecutive time tonight, 4-2, to tie Nashville for the longest active home win streak against one opponent (Columbus) in the NHL.
The Wild went 4 for 6 on the power play, the seventh time in franchise history the Wild's scored four power-play goals in a home game. It was the Wild's ninth straight home-opening victory, and yes, in front of a loud soldout crowd.
Seven of the Wild's eight goals this year have come on the power play, and tonight Mikko Koivu scored two goals and an assist, Matt Cullen scored a goal and an assist in his home debut, Antti Miettinen scored a goal and an assist and Andrew Brunette had two assists.
Niklas Backstrom made 24 saves, improving to 12-0 all-time vs. the Oilers at home and 15-2-1 overall against them.
The power play was outstanding, with Cullen making a huge difference at the point. Remember, that was one of my big reasons why I admittedly campaigned for the Wild to go after him in the first place. It wasn't easy watching Minnesota use a string of stay-at-home defensemen on the point at times last year.
But Cullen can not only motor at even-strength, where he's got exceptional skills, but he's one of those rare forwards that's just awesome at the point (i.e. not a defensive liability). And he was great tonight, as was Marek Zidlicky, who made his season debut.
The Wild's power play just ate Edmonton up, helped by guys like Brunette driving the net. Colin Fraser and Ryan Jones (yes, the Wild's former Ryan Jones), oh my, tough night. Same forward pair on the ice for every Minnesota goal.
