Coming into Thursday’s game, the Edmonton Oilers have ice cold in Minnesota over the last six years. The boys haven’t beaten the Wild on the road since February 7th, 2019, when Ty Rattie scored the game-winner, and Zack Kassian locked down the win with an empty-netter. Needless to say, I thought they were due. What I didn’t expect, however, was that the Oilers would run the show to the tune of a 7-1 beatdown in a barn where they last won over five years ago. That was a pleasant surprise.

I don’t have to tell anyone reading this that Leon Draisaitl is one of the best hockey players on earth — we all know it to be true — but last night, he put on a clinic against the Minnesota Wild. From the moment the puck dropped until the final buzzer went off, Draisaitl created mayhem almost every time he was on the ice. Draisaitl was as dominant as we’ve ever seen whether the puck was on his stick or not, and there wasn’t a whole lot the Wild could do to stop it.

So, when I was looking at the box score to put this article together, I was stunned to see that he only played 18:03 in TOI because of how much he got done. With a goal and three assists on the night, Drai extended his position atop the NHL goal-scoring leaderboard while also dishing the puck to his teammates in a way that very few players can replicate. It was one of those nights where everything he touched turned to gold, and when he’s dialled in as he was last night in Minny, there aren’t many players in the league that can prevent the mayhem he caused in the offensive zone—simply a brilliant performance.

Isn’t it funny how often Calvin Pickard gets disrespected? No matter how consistently solid he’s been between the pipes, a segment of the fanbase still believes that the Oilers need to find an upgrade for their backup goaltender. I don’t get it, given how well he’s played for this team every time he’s called upon. It doesn’t matter if he’s getting the nod in the playoffs in relief of Stuart Skinner or if it’s his turn to start after a week or more on the bench, Calvin Pickard is giving this team the kind of backup goaltending they haven’t had in forever.

That’s why I was so pumped when I looked at the box score last night and saw that he stopped 29 of 30 shots and wrapped up the night with a .967 save percentage. Not only is that quality backup goaltending, but that’s the kind of outing that will win you games more often than not. Of course, life is easier when the team in front of you puts seven goals on the board, but I refuse to take anything away from the guy after a performance like that. No matter how you slice it, our pal Cal is doing his job for this hockey team, and it’s a great story that none of us would have ever expected a year ago.

How good has Kasperi Kapanen been since he got here? Even with the goal he scored last night — not celebrating whatsoever when the puck went in was some gangster shit imo — I think he’s been a fantastic addition to the roster all for the price of a waiver claim and $1 million. He’s giving the Oilers great minutes on a value deal, and I’m pumped for him that he’s finding success after often being scratched in St. Louis.

What’s most impressive to me about how he’s playing is that he’s putting himself in a position where Kris Knoblauch and co. won’t be able to pull him out of the lineup even when everyone gets healthy. There was a time when I thought for sure that Viktor Arvidsson would come back and Kapanen would get yanked out of the lineup, but how can you do that when he’s giving the team effective minutes the way he has? Despite playing only 12:45 on the night, Kapanen finished the game with a goal, one hit, and a +2 rating. It’s like that he’s figured out very quickly where he needs to be for Draisaitl to find him, and that’s the kind of skill that will keep him around a lot longer than we may have expected when the team first grabbed him off waivers. What a pickup.

1. It took Connor Brown all season in 2023-24 to score four goals, but he’s already reached that mark in only 29 games this year. I can only imagine how frustrating last season was for him as he tried to play while recovering from a major injury, but he’s making up for it this season even though he’s only playing around 10-11 minutes per night. That’s a feel good story right there, my friends.

2. Derek Ryan finally got a goal to count, and I don’t know who was happier about it, the team or my man Woz.

3. It had now been 2135 days since the Oilers last win in Minnesota, and boy did they ever end the streak in spectacular fashion. Of course, we were all hopeful that this was the result we would get, but I doubt anyone who cheers for the blue and orange expected the boys to put up a touchdown on the board. Shout out to Google for having that information readily available because I thought I would have to do some calendar math.

4. Looking at the special teams, the Oilers went 2-for-4 on the power play while killing off 2-of-3 shorthanded situations they faced. Yet, even though they did give up a power play goal, Connor Brown evened things out by scoring a shorthanded goal on the back of a very pretty passing play. By my count, that makes this a clean win for the Oilers against a team that has had some very good special teams all season long. It’s one thing to score a couple of goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets last week, it’s another thing entirely to do it against the Minnesota Wild, and I wanted to give the boys some love for their efforts.

5. Much to my delight, the Oilers have been one of the best faceoff teams in the league, and last night in St. Paul they kept the trend going by winning 56% of the draws.

6. A huge thank you to everyone who came out to Dogpatch last night for our Nation Citizens Christmas party. That may have been one of the best watch parties we’ve ever had, and it was because of the incredible people who decided to join us. From all of us here at Oilersnation, thank you so much for making the night a special one. We promise to do that again soon.

7. I know Zach wrote about it last night, but what the hell was Ryan Hartman doing with that cheap play on Evan Bouchard at the end of the game? That’s as greasy as it gets at a point in the game when the Wild were totally out of it and just waiting for the clock to run out. Garbage play, but a dirty little twerp of a player.

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