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

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Feb 1, 2026

Published in Hockey

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Jesper Wallstedt had to be perfect to defeat the Edmonton 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.

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.

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

Hughes set a pair of franchise records, the Wild power play went 2-for-3, and Vladimir Tarasenko also capitalized. So did Tyler Pitlick, who subbed in with Nico Sturm sidelined because of illness.

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.

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.

The Wild answered back on the power play when Hughes set up Eriksson Ek for a breakaway at 6:15, Eriksson Ek splitting the Edmonton defense before lifting the puck by Jarry.

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.

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.

Then at 12:29, Hughes skated from inside the Wild blue line to Edmonton territory where his shot was deflected into the boards, but he got on the end of the rebound to elude Jarry for his third goal with the Wild.

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.

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 a season-high seventh goal for the Wild.

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.

The Wild play their last home game before the Olympic break on Monday, Feb. 2, vs. the Canadiens, who upended the Wild on a last-minute goal for a 4-3 victory in Montreal on Jan. 20.