Oilers keep their nerve to defeat Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — The Edmonton Oilers hope Cam Talbot’s return can help stop their rollercoaster December.

Talbot made 29 saves after missing seven games with an undisclosed injury, Milan Lucic had a goal and assist and the Oilers held off the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Saturday.

Talbot said he felt great after his jokingly self-proclaimed “21⁄2-week vacation.”

He was eased in as the Oilers had 10 of the first 11 shots on goal.

“Sometimes, coming off an extended period like that, sometimes you want early work. But they kept the first few to the outside and let me get comfortable, and just battled out from there and just tried to control the game,” Talbot said.

Oilers coach Todd McLellan said: “Anytime you get one of your core players or key players back, regardless of position, but maybe even more important in goal, it’s a calming influence. I felt our team didn’t panic.”

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored for Edmonton, which has alternated wins and losses for nine straight games dating to Dec. 2.

“We’ve been playing the right way the last five, six games and it seems like every other game we’ve been getting the result that we want,” Lucic said.

The Oilers outshot Nashville 46-23 Thursday, yet lost 4-0. They had 41 shots in a 1-0 loss at Toronto last Sunday.

Matt Dumba scored twice for Minnesota, which lost for the first time in five games. It was also the Wild’s first regulation loss at Xcel Energy Center since Nov. 4. Minnesota was 7-0-1 in its previous eight home games. The Wild were 0-for-4 on the power play and have scored just once in 19 chances over the past nine games.

“I thought some of them we had chances, myself included,” said Wild captain Mikko Koivu, who has no points in his past 10 games and has gone 23 games without a goal. “The difference is if you’re going to put the puck in the net or not. If I did, or if we did, we’re not talking about it right now.”

Lucic gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead late in the second period with a quick shot from the slot after the puck squirted away from a battle between Ryan Suter and Leon Draisaitl.