logo
OilersNation has no direct affiliation to the Edmonton Oilers, Oilers Entertainment Group, NHL, or NHLPA
Oilers blow 2-1 lead, fall 7-3 to Wild in lousy showing: Recap, Reaction and Highlights
Minnesota Wild Quinn Hughes Edmonton Oilers
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Feb 1, 2026, 01:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 1, 2026, 00:57 EST
Comments
Death, taxes, and the Minnesota Wild beating the Edmonton Oilers.
On Saturday evening, the Oilers played the seventh of eight consecutive games, hosting the Wild for the final team this season. Like the previous two times, the Wild pulled out the win, defeating the Oilers 7-3.
Things actually started off well for the Oilers, as they got on the board a little over three minutes into the game. The Wild failed to clear the zone, as Leon Draisaitl intercepted a pass near the blue line. Getting to the slot, the German ripped it past the Wild netminder.
About six minutes into the first period, the Oilers took a penalty. After a clear, Quinn Hughes was able to find Joel Eriksson Ek for a breakaway, with the Wild forward beating Tristan Jarry over the pad.
It didn’t take long for the Oilers to restore their lead. Evan Bouchard passed it down low to Connor McDavid, who cut to the middle of the ice and attempted to pass it to the front of the net. While Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn’t get a stick to it, he was able to redirect it with his foot to make it 2-1.
In the final minute of the first period, Zach Hyman took a goaltender interference penalty, giving the Wild their third power play chance of the first period. The Wild tied the game after a faceoff win and a shot from the top of the dot. While Jarry made the initial save, the Wild were first to the rebound, and after a quick pass between Spencer Stastney’s legs, Kirill Kaprizov tapped it in for an easy goal.
Tied at two heading into the second period, the Wild took control of the game in the middle frame. They won an offensive zone 34 seconds into the period, and a quick shot from Mats Zuccarello off that faceoff fooled Jarry for the Wild’s first lead of the game. They never relinquished it.
With seven and a half minutes left in the second, Wild defenceman Quinn Hughes broke into the zone, but his shot went awry. The puck took a crazy deflection off the board and Hughes was first to it, squeaking the puck past Jarry to make it 4-2.
It went from bad to worse for the Oilers, as the Wild scored their fifth goal with just under four and a half minutes left. Once the Wild got a zone entry, Mattias Ekholm put pressure on the puck carrier. At the same time, two forwards drove to the net, leading to a two-on-one. Vladimir Tarasenko received the puck, but decided to shoot as Jarry overcommitted to his right. He was pulled after this goal.
Midway through the third period, the Wild scored their sixth goal. The Wild dumped it in, got the puck first, and Tyler Pitlick was left all alone in front of the net. Once he received the puck, the former Oiler made no mistake in ripping it past Connor Ingram.
The Oilers cut the Wild lead in half with about seven minutes into the game. Josh Samanski won the faceoff to Darnell Nurse, with the defenceman going for a skate behind the net. He was able to find Jack Roslovic in front for the tap in.
Immediately after Jack Roslovic’s 15th goal of the season, the Oilers hit back-to-back bars, coming oh so close to make it an interesting game. That second bar was thanks to Bouchard, who walked around a Wild defender. Unfortunately, the WIld came back the other way, with Brock Faber walking Bouchard and ripping it past Ingram to put the game away with just under six minutes left. Like a goal in Thursday’s game, a poor change was the cause of the goal.

Takeaways…

There aren’t a lot of good takeaways from this game. The Oilers out-shot the Wild 17-7 in the second period, but it was the Wild that scored all three goals. It’s pretty hard to win a game when you can’t buy a save. Overall, Tristan Jarry posted a .750 save percentage in his 36 minutes of action. I wish I could have watched Ben Scrivens’ 59-save performance again instead of this one.
Goaltending wasn’t the only problem in this game, as the Oilers struggled defensively. You need to look no further than the Wild’s sixth goal. How is the opposing play that wide open? The Oilers defensive structure has been poor all season long, I’m not sure there’s a fix for it.
On the other side of the crease, Jesper Wallstedt had another good game, stopping 39 of 42 shots for a .929 save percentage. At least the Oilers got one past him this time, as he stopped all 33 shots he faced against the Oilers on December 2nd.
Josh Samanski picked up his first NHL point after winning the faceoff that led to the Oilers’ third goal of the game. Good to see him get that out of the way before he heads to Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Overall, it was a pretty strong game from Samanski’s line, as he, Matt Savoie, and Jack Roslovic had 94.8 percent of the expected goals in their eight and a half minutes of ice time during five-on-five play. They also out-shot the Wild 8-0 with the trio on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It was a rough game for the dynamic duo. Connor McDavid picked up an assist on the Oilers second goal, but was a -3 in the game. Leon Draisaitl scored, but he crashed heavily into the boards and went down the tunnel for a bit.
The Oilers have now had at least one stinker at home against the top three Central Division teams. On November 8th, they fell 9-1 to the Colorado Avalanche, then 8-3 to the Dallas Stars later that month. It’s going to be hard for any team to defeat whoever makes it out of that division.
That was a pretty brutal game for the Oilers, but the good news is that the Vegas Golden Knights also lost, meaning the two teams remain tied at the top of the Pacific Division. It’s worth noting that the Golden Knights have played two fewer games.
The Oilers play the eighth and final game of this home stand on Tuesday, as the Toronto Maple Leafs visit. That game has a start time of 6:30 PM MT.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365

Post Game

News

Featured

Breaking News