Wild Lose to Edmonton Oilers in Shootout

Putting their first regulation loss behind them was tough for the Minnesota Wild and it showed at Rexall Place Thursday night when the Minnesota Wild took on the Edmonton Oilers. The Wild battled from behind most of the night, but tied it in the third to send the game to overtime. The Wild nearly won it in overtime when Marian Gaborik hit a post on a backhand, but the puck just wouldn’t go in and the Wild were faced with their second shootout of the year.

The Oilers won on a fluke goal in the shootout when Edmonton Player Ales Hemsky got an ugly one as he lost the handle on the puck, only to see it sneak through the legs of Wild goalie Josh Harding. The lucky break gave Edmonton the win and sent the Wild back to the U.S. after losing two Canadian road games.

James Sheppard, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Brian Rolston and Mark Parrish all scored on Edmonton goalie (former Minnesota Wild goalie) Dwayne Roloson.  It was James Sheppard first career NHL goal. Way to go Sheppard!

WILD MATCH-UP FACT: It was the first time in seven games and only the fourth in their past 17 that Edmonton was able to defeat the Wild.