ST PAUL, Minn. — Kevin Fiala and Ryan Hartman each scored twice, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 on Tuesday night in a matchup of two of the NHL’s hottest teams.
Frederick Gaudreau also scored for Minnesota, which improved to 11-1-2 in its last 14 games. The Wild have scored at least three goals in all but one of those contests.
Tied with St. Louis for second place in the Central Division with a game in hand, Minnesota is 9-0-1 in its past 10 home games.
Cam Talbot made 27 saves to improve to 9-0-2 in his last 11 games. He is 14-4-2 in his last 20 starts overall.
Leon Draisaitl scored on the power play for Edmonton, his career-high 51st goal of the year and 21st with the man advantage, setting a franchise high. Wayne Gretzky (1983-84) and Ryan Smyth (1996-97) had the previous record.
Edmonton, 6-0-1 in its previous seven games, got 18 saves from Mikko Koskinen. Connor McDavid was held without a point for the second straight game, the fourth time that has happened this season.
The Oilers surrendered just five goals over their previous four games.
Fiala forced a turnover early in the second period, and a couple passes later, converted a feed from Matt Boldy for a 2-0 lead. Midway through the frame, an aggressive forecheck led to another Edmonton turnover and Fiala took advantage by beating Koskinen top shelf from near the goal line.
Fiala has a career-high 26 goals this year. His previous best was 23.
A trio of Edmonton miscues resulted in a pass from Kirill Kaprizov to Hartman in front, and he lofted a shot over Koskinen less than 4 minutes later. Hartman scored his 29th of the year earlier in the third.
Kaprizov assisted on both Hartman goals to push his season total to 91 points — 42 goals and 49 assists.
Evander Kane cross-checked Kaprizov midway through the third period, resulting in a scrap with Hartman. Both earned roughing minors and 10-minute misconducts.
Gaudreau scored early for a 1-0 lead. Minnesota is 27-1-1 when leading after the first period.
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