ST. PAUL, Minn. — Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 2-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Xcel Energy Center on Monday.
Frederick Gaudreau also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves for the Wild (15-11-2) in the first of a four-game homestand. They lost 5-2 at Edmonton on Friday.
“From [Fleury] out, we did the right things,” Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. “We were defending, and not just playing defense. We were doing the right things offensively that we didn’t have to play as much defense. We held onto pucks. We didn’t blindly throw pucks through the neutral zone. We didn’t blindly throw pucks into the slot when it wasn’t there. When we do that, now they have a counter and a transition, and they can really hurt us. We liked our overall game.”
Video: EDM@MIN: Gaudreau buries Boldy’s feed for the lead
Zach Hyman scored his 10th goal of the season, and Stuart Skinner made 28 saves for the Oilers (16-13-0), who will visit the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
Edmonton center Connor McDavid had his goal streak end at seven but got his 30th assist of the season. He has 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in a nine-game point streak.
“It came down to one 5-on-5 goal against that we feel we could have handled better,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “… We certainly had enough time to get the equalizer, just couldn’t find it tonight against a good goaltender and against a good team.”
Boldy redirected Kirill Kaprizov‘s shot to give the Wild a 1-0 lead on a power play at 12:36 of the first period. He has scored in each of the past two games.
“It’s a big win,” Boldy said. “They’ve got some super players over there. I think just how good we are [defense] core played kind of just speaks to how good they are. … It’s impressive.”
Hyman tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 14:01 on a rebound in front. The Wild challenged for goalie interference, but the goal stood.
Video: EDM@MIN: Hyman scores PPG in 1st period
Edmonton went 1-for-5 on the power play.
“We have a good power play,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “There were some chances across the goal line there. Give them credit, they checked harder.”
It appeared Matt Dumba made it 2-1 at 7:46 of the second period, but video review concluded Gaudreau entered the zone offside.
However, Gaudreau scored at 9:39 when he one-timed a backhand feed from Boldy for the 2-1 final.
“Great play by [Boldy],” Gaudreau said. “He’s just so strong, so smart, so great play by him.”
Video: EDM@MIN: Boldy redirects a pass into the net for PPG
Fleury made two saves in the final minute of the third period after a 6-on-4 situation Mats Zuccarello took a tripping penalty with 52 seconds left and Skinner pulled for an extra attacker.
“Definitely a tough power play to face,” Fleury said. “We’ve seen them a couple of times the last few weeks and they’ve given us some trouble.
“It was amazing. All the guys battled and blocked some shots and were aggressive on them. It was a fun battle and fun to win the game.”
NOTES: It was Boldy’s sixth multipoint game this season. … Defenseman Jared Spurgeon became the second to play 800 games with the Wild (Mikko Koivu, 1,028). … Zuccarello had an assist on Boldy’s goal to extend his point streak to seven games (nine points; two goals, seven assists). He has 20 assists in 10 straight seasons. … Fleury reached 10 wins (10-7-1) for the 18th time in his NHL career and became the fourth goalie to do so, joining Martin Brodeur (20 times), Patrick Roy (18) and Terry Sawchuk (18). … Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a four-game point streak end.
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