The Edmonton Oilers have their first three-game winless skid of the season after suffering a 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul on Thursday night.
The Oilers are 0-2-1 in their last three games, having been outscored 15-10.
Edmonton defenceman Oscar Klefbom opened the scoring 12 minutes into the game, finishing off a give-and-go with forward Sam Gagner for his third goal of the season.
Minnesota’s Jordan Greenway pulled the Wild even when the puck hit him in front and flipped over Oilers goaltender Mike Smith and into the net.
Minnesota forward Jason Zucker beat Smith on a breakaway with 17.5 seconds left in the first to put the Wild up 2-1.
“There’s some turning points in this game that I didn’t like,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said after the game.
The Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl made it 2-2 on the power play, two minutes into the second period, with his 20th goal of the season.
The Wild came back with goals four minutes apart from Marcus Foligno and Ryan Donato.
The Oilers tied the game with two goals 2:06 apart in the third. Edmonton forward Gaetan Haas tipped in an Adam Larsson point shot, then Oilers captain Connor McDavid one-timed a pass from Ethan Bear. It was McDavid’s 20th goal of the season.
“We’ve got to dig in here [because] we’re in a bit of a rut,” McDavid said after the game.
However, the Wild came right back with quick goals of their own. Eric Staal scored with 4:47 left, then Luke Kunin struck 1:08 later.
The Oilers (18-12-4) will host Toronto on Saturday.
Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his 400th career NHL point in Thursday night’s game in Minnesota.
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