Oilers doubled up by Wild 4-2

Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff prepares to slide the puck past Niklas Backstrom Thursday night at Rexall Place. The Oilers lost the game 4-2. (Photo by Andy Devlin / Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club)

 

---

PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch Hemsky's 1st Period Goal. Video Highlights IN FOCUS: Post-game comments from Gagner, Hall, Paajarvi & coach Renney Wild Post-Game: Comments from Brodziak, Zanon & coach Richards

AUDIO

Audio Highlights Tom Renney Sam Gagner Taylor Hall Magnus Paajarvi

THREE STARS

Kyle Brodziak, MIN Taylor Hall, EDM Guillaume Latendresse, MIN

UPDATE

The Oilers fall to 2-3-0 on the season after tonight's loss.

WHAT'S NEXT

Edmonton wraps up its short two-game homestand vs. San Jose Saturday, Oct. 23 at Rexall Place. The game starts at 8:00pm and will be broadcast on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

MORE

Under the Scope

Despite benefiting from five more power-plays and tallying 11 more shots than their opponents, the Oilers were unable to battle back from an early 2-0 deficit and lost 4-2 to the Wild Thursday night.

Ales Hemsky and Shawn Horcoff scored Edmonton's first two goals, while rookie Taylor Hall earned second-star honours for his spirited play. Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin finished with 21 saves in the loss.

Under the Scope

FIRST PERIOD

Three minutes into the contest, the Wild struck. Although Khabibulin made an initial stop and caught the puck beneath him, former Oiler Kyle Brodziak prodded it loose and across the line to make it 1-0 for the visitors.

Three minutes later, Brodziak did it again. From inside the right face-off circle, the Alberta native sunk a top-shelf snipe, setting the score 2-0.

The Oilers got some help from the officials following the goal. Consecutive penalties to Nick Schultz and Chuck Kobasew gave the Oil two power-plays, including a 34-second five-on-three, but the club couldn't beat Niklas Backstrom.

Although Edmonton struggled in its first two man-advantages, the team pulled together for a third near the 12-minute mark. After applying steady pressure in the Wild zone, blueliners Ryan Whitney and Kurtis Foster got the puck to Hemsky, who snapped it over Backstrom to get the Oilers within one.

But with Dustin Penner serving a hooking minor, Minnesota countered with a power-play marker of their own. Approaching from Khabibulin's right, Guillaume Latendresse converted a centering pass from Martin Havlat into a renewed two-goal cushion for the Wild.

Penalty box doors kept swinging as the period wrapped up. The infractions for charging and too many men ensured both teams would start the middle frame with four skaters.

SECOND PERIOD

The power-plays passed without additional scoring, but by the game's midway point, the Oilers had added 11 shots to assume a 20-8 shot lead.

The Wild narrowed the gap as the period progressed, but the extra shots had no effect on the score. After 40 minutes and a handful of excellent scoring chances for Hall, the Oilers were up nine shots but down two goals.

THIRD PERIOD

Four infractions early in the third, including a high-sticking minor and 10-minute misconduct to Penner, had the Oilers and Wild trading power-plays. The man-advantages were unsuccessful until 8:09, when Horcoff slipped the puck under Backstrom to make it 3-2.

Edmonton topped 30 shots and Minnesota hit 20 in the latter half of the third.

In the final two minutes, the Oilers opted for an extra skater and pulled Khabibulin. The strategy backfired, however, and Brent Burns added an empty-netter to seal a 4-2 win for the Wild.