Oilers host Wild as both chase a bounce-back win

Edmonton Oilers' Warren Foegele (37) and Connor McDavid (97) celebrate a goal against the Boston Bruins' during second period NHL action in Edmonton on Wednesday February 21, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

The Edmonton Oilers will be looking to improve their start when they host the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

The Oilers found themselves trailing the visiting Boston Bruins 4-1 in the second period on Wednesday night before rallying to eventually earn a point in a 6-5 overtime loss.

Edmonton tied the game at 4, the Bruins regained the lead, and then Zach Hyman tied it at 5 at 13:23 of the third period.

"To be able to come back twice and earn a point I think says a lot about our team," Hyman said. "We faced adversity, but at the same time, you don't want to put yourself in that position.

"I think we have to learn. Since we've been back (from the All-Star break), we've put ourselves in this position too often and we have to learn to play consistently throughout the whole game."

The Oilers are 4-3-1 since their 16-game winning streak ended coming out of the All-Star break.

Warren Foegele scored twice, and Connor McDavid had two assists for the Oilers, who had won two in a row overall and eight straight at home. Stuart Skinner made 30 saves.

"I really thought we were going to get the win," Foegele said. "We've got to have a better second period. It felt like today, even though the goals were going in, that we actually had a better second period."

McDavid has 12 goals and 36 assists during a 20-game home point streak. He became the sixth player in NHL history to have multiple 20-game home point streaks (21 games last season).

The Oilers played without forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (illness).

Minnesota saw its six-game point streak (5-0-1) end in a 6-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets in the opener of a three-game road trip on Tuesday. Jets goalie Laurent Brossoit made 36 saves in the win.

"I thought we generated quite a bit. I think that we certainly should have had more goals than we did tonight," Minnesota coach John Hynes said.

"Unfortunately, they didn't go in. But I thought the chance generation, expected goals, chances for, (offensive) zone time, lots of those things were in our favor, but didn't get in tonight, so I think we've got to bear down."

Marco Rossi scored twice, and Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist for the Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves. Rossi's two goals moved him into a tie with Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard for most among rookies in the NHL (17).

Minnesota fell behind 3-0 early in the second period and eventually trailed 5-1 before rallying within 5-3 late in the third. The Jets added an empty-net tally to clinch it.

The Wild remain in the thick of the wild-card chase.

"We're a confident group," defenseman Brock Faber said. "Again, if we put together wins ... right now we're just trying to battle to get in the playoffs. But if we were to get there, we are confident in the fact that we can go on a run from there."

The teams have split two meetings this season, with Minnesota winning 7-4 at home Oct. 24 and Edmonton winning 4-3 at home Dec. 8.

- Field Level Media