Wild Blog: McDavid, Oilers Deal A Setback To Wild Playoff Hopes
After being picked first overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid was proclaimed to be the next elite talent in the NHL.
On Thursday the Minnesota Wild got to see his skill up close and personal and it may have had an impact on their chase for a spot in the playoffs.
McDavid scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal at 12:31 in the third period, giving Edmonton a 2-1 victory over a Minnesota. For the Oilers it was only their fifth win over the Wild in 25 games going back to 2010.
Both teams traded goals in the first two periods with Lauri Korpikoski scoring at 9:55 of the first period for Edmonton and Zach Parise scoring at 11:04 of the second period for Minnesota.
That set the stage for McDavid in the third period, using his speed to create the opportunity to score the go-ahead goal.
"McDavid came with a lot of speed on play and we were caught a little bit flat-footed." Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper said when asked about what happened on that goal. "He had the puck in front of him and was able to get pretty good wood on it while reaching against the grain, which not many players can do. It kind of surprised me a little bit and he snuck the puck between my arm and my pad."
Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, who was defending McDavid on the play added "He had a lot of speed. I tried to keep him outside of me but he has that reach there. It's tough to get a stick on him."
While the McDavid goal ended up being the margin of victory, the Wild played into the Oilers hands in the first period by trying to skate up and down the ice with them instead of chipping pucks in deep. That was something that didn't go unnoticed in the Wild locker room after the game.
"We were turning a lot of pucks over in the first period. We had a couple good looks early but we weren't able to score." Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said after the loss. "Edmonton has a lot of skill. If you turn pucks over most of the time it will come back to bite you in the butt."
With this loss the Wild remain two points behind Colorado in the chase for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. With 14 games remaining in the season time is running out for Minnesota.
"Colorado isn't making easy on us but we are still in a good spot with games in hand." Kuemper said. "The games keep ticking away so you don't want to let points slip away so we need to grab as many as we can."
The next chance for Minnesota to get points will be this Saturday night in Montreal as the Wild start a three game road trip against the Canadiens.
