Wild fall behind early, get pummeled by Edmonton

Looking back at this game, it is one Wild players, organizational members, and fans will never want to watch again. Things are looking very dismal right now for the Wild. The Wild were 11-4-2 at one point this season. Those times were great. Everything was going so well. Fast forward to now and the Wild are now 15-12-2 and are tied for 9th in the West with Edmonton.

It didn’t take long for Connor McDavid to make his mark on this game. Just passed the four minute mark, Leon Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead and for the 20th time in 29 games the Wild were down 1-0. That goal, on the second shot of the game set the tone early on. However, just about three minutes later Devan Dubnyk would have trouble with covering the puck and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would bang home the loose puck in front to make it 2-0. And then, McDavid would show off why he is one of the best players in the NHL. McDavid would go bar-down from the middle of the slot and the Oilers were up 3-0 on just 6 shots. Enter Alex Stalock. And maybe a spark from the Wild was upcoming as mid-way through Marcus Foligno would find the back of the net for the first time since October 20th. After 20 minutes, it was 3-1 Edmonton.

No scoring would take place in the middle frame, but the Wild went 0-2 with the man advantage in the second. Friday the Wild went 0-5 against Calgary and the woes continued on the PP. Chances after chances went to the wayside for the Wild yet they were only down 3-1 going into the third.

It wouldn’t take long for the Oilers to put the hurting on the Wild. Just about two minutes into the thrid, Zach Kassian, with a blast from the point, and a screen in front would give Edmonton a 4-1 lead. BUT, the Wild would cut the Oilers lead to two again thanks to Nino Niederreiter. The chances for the Wild would continue, but they couldn’t finish. That two goal deficit for the Wild would last a total of 3:02 as Draisaitl would find the back of the net for the second time of the evening, again with the assist to McDavid. 5-2 Edmonton. With the fans knowing this game is out of hand, the wave was going on, and next thing you know, Alex Chiasson would make it 6-2. And to make matters worse, the Oilers would add the extra point to the touchdown and make it 7-2, which would turn out to be the final from Rogers Arena.

Afterwards, when talking to media, Bruce Boudreau would address the Dubynk concern, but would also drop concern on just about everyone. “We’re concerned, but I’m concerned about a lot of guys on this team right now. He’s not the only one”. BOOM. Shots fired by Bruce. But he is so right at the same time. They need a wake up call and hopefully this will light a spark under the players going into Tuesday’s game against Montreal

Something’s got to give. At some point this stretch of losing will have to come to an end. But in the mean time, we must live with the fact that the Wild are struggling to do anything right. The Wild will return home for four straight games starting Tuesday which will hopefully change the tide.