Special teams sink Oilers in loss to visiting Wild

EDMONTON — On the front end of their longest road trip in franchise history, the Minnesota Wild managed to bounce back from a loss in Vancouver despite playing for the second night in a row.

Eric Staal had a goal and two assists as the Wild beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Tuesday.

“We have good players and we have a good team,” Staal said. “We feel like we can come back any time and if we stay with our game and our structure, we have the talent to be able to cash in on opportunities.

“Tonight was about gutting it out and it felt like we deserved to win tonight.”

Zach Parise, Jared Spurgeon and Mikael Granlund also scored for the Wild (7-3-2), who have won six of their last seven games.

Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Alex Chiasson responded for the Oilers (6-4-1), who saw a three-game winning streak halted.

“We were the better team, 5-on-5, but special teams cost us,” McDavid said. “Our power play didn’t do anything (0-for-5) and they went 3-for-3 on their power play. That’s not good.”

“You give up three on the penalty kill and get none on the power play, and you’re not winning,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan added. “We could play that game 100 times, and do the same thing over and over again, and not win it.”

Granlund extended his points streak to nine games by sniping what stood up as the winner over Cam Talbot’s shoulder for the only goal of the third period with 5:48 remaining.

The Wild currently have the oldest team in the NHL with an average age of 28.9. The Oilers are currently the youngest, with an average age of 25.5.

The Oilers remain home to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, while the Wild’s next game is Saturday in St. Louis.