Quinn Hughes had a stellar performance on Saturday night, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 7-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Since joining the Wild in December, Hughes has been on fire, extending his point streak to eight games with two goals and 11 assists. He now holds the record for the longest points and assist streak by a Wild defenseman.
Minnesota seized the lead early in the second period when Mats Zuccarello scored off a Ryan Hartman faceoff win. Hughes then widened the gap with a goal at 12:29, capitalizing on his own rebound. Edmonton’s goalie Tristan Jarry struggled, allowing five goals on 20 shots before being replaced by Connor Ingram.
In addition to Hughes, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Faber, Kirill Kaprizov, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Tyler Pitlick all contributed goals for the Wild. Jesper Wallstedt put on a solid performance in goal, stopping 39 of the 42 shots he faced.
On the Oilers’ side, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Jack Roslovic found the back of the net, but their three-game win streak came to an end. Edmonton has been struggling with penalty killing, conceding two power-play goals to Minnesota in this game and six goals on 14 penalties over their last four games.
The Wild’s strong performance has propelled them to second place in the Western Conference standings, trailing behind the Colorado Avalanche. Meanwhile, the Oilers, with an average of 3.18 goals given up per game this season, need to focus on improving their defensive play, as emphasized by head coach Kris Knoblauch.
