The Minnesota Wild remained undefeated under new coach John Torchetti with a 5-2 victory against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Jason Pominville, Matt Dumba, Thomas Vanek, Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle scored for Minnesota, which swept its Western Canada road trip. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves. The Wild scored five goals in each of their first three games under Torchetti, who replaced Mike Yeo. They had not scored five goals in a game since Dec. 17.
Connor McDavid and Nail Yakupov scored for Edmonton, which has lost three in a row. Cam Talbot made 22 saves. Minnesota lost eight straight games and 13 of 14 before Yeo was fired. Pominville scored on the power play at 9:30 of the first period to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead. The Wild right wing collected a long rebound off a shot from Vanek and snapped the puck past Talbot. McDavid tied it 28 seconds later, taking a pass from forward Benoit Pouliot on a 2-on-1 rush and tapping it into an open net.
Dumba put Minnesota up 2-1 at 13:16 of the first with another power-play goal, banking a centering pass off Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse's skate and past Talbot. The goal initially was credited to Coyle, who was in front of the Oilers net, but it later was awarded to Dumba for his eighth of the season.
Yakupov tied it 2-2 with 2:41 left in the first, pouncing on a turnover by Nate Prosser at the right faceoff circle and shooting the puck over Kuemper's shoulder. Vanek gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead at 4:48 of the second period. Left open in the slot, he converted a centering pass from Mikko Koivu.
The Oilers thought they tied it at 8:24 of the second when Taylor Hall knocked in a loose puck sitting in the crease on a delayed penalty to Mike Reilly. However, the officials ruled Jared Spurgeon touched the puck first, resulting in a whistle prior to Hall knocking it into the net. Yakupov came close to tying the game on the ensuing power play, one-timing a shot from the top of the faceoff circle off the goal post. A few minutes later, Kuemper stopped Yakupov on a breakaway. Granlund put Minnesota up 4-2 at 15:37 of the second, getting to a rebound off a shot from Dumba and putting it past Talbot. Coyle scored into an empty net with 3.2 seconds left.
The Wild return home to host the Chicago Blackhawks in a 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday, in Torchetti's first home game as their coach.
Wild Quotes
Charlie Coyle: "It's a world of difference, it feels like. All of a sudden, we feel good about ourselves, our confidence is growing each game, and it's a huge road trip for us. This is my first time going through someone like this [coaching change]. We're playing a complete game, guys are stepping up, and whether it's coincidence or not, we like the way things are going right now."Darcy Kuemper: "It's good; we're playing good hockey right now and we're getting rewarded for it. I think it's a fresh start for everyone. A lot of guys had a lot of negative things going on, and it's almost like a new season, in a sense. I think it gave everyone a fresh start, and we can just go out there and play."
"We kind of got caught on a change there, and they sprung him and he's fast and has a lot of skill. I just tried to wait on him, and he pulled it to his backhand, and luckily I got a good read on it and was able to close him off."
John Torchetti: "The guys know that if they compete for each other, they'll be successful, that's the thing moving forward. 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 of the zone and we were getting the job done defensively."
"I'm looking forward to it. For me, I'm just looking forward to playing the Blackhawks. They're the Stanley Cup champions, so we have to come out, we have to be ready. We'll have some fun with the family business, have some fun with the [outdoor] practice, and then let's get to work and be ready for the game."
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