Wild 'biggest challenge' yet of Oilers' season: coach

Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov during NHL action on Nov. 5, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (Matt Krohn/Associated Press)

Thursday night's host of the Edmonton Oilers "will be the biggest challenge so far," says their head coach.

Kris Knoblauch said while his team – which has won six of their last seven games – has been playing "pretty good hockey" lately, the surprising Minnesota Wild sit atop the National Hockey League standings heading into the game (6:30 p.m. MT) in St. Paul, Minn., led offensively by second-leading NHL scorer Kirill Kaprizov and aided greatly by air-tight defensive work that's resulted in the fewest goals allowed.

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That and the Wild have been a puzzle for the Oilers in recent times. Minnesota not only dominated Edmonton in their most recent meeting three weeks ago at Rogers Place, they've reigned over them the last five seasons, winning 11 of their 13 meetings from the 2019-20 NHL season until now.

"This stretch that we have is going to be very competitive," Knoblauch told media after the pre-game morning skate. "We're playing a lot of good teams, and we saw one the other night in Tampa, but the next week or so, it's going to be a lot of tough matchups, and you look at a team that's playing very well right now, a team that we haven't played or had much success against and at home, it's another challenge for us. Hopefully, we're ready for that challenge."

New blood on blueline

Player out, player in: The Oilers waived defenceman Travis Dermott on Wednesday and claimed defenceman Alec Regula off waivers on Thursday from the Boston Bruins.

Regula, a third-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2018 and an ex-prospect of the Chicago Blackhawks, is a former junior blueline partner of top-pairing Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard. The 24-year-old won't play in Minnesota on Thursday.

Knoblauch said when it comes to becoming familiar with Regula and vice-versa, they will benefit when they return to Edmonton after Thursday's game.

"When we get home and we're practicing in our building, having a lot more time and not on the run as much, you get to get to know that player a little bit more, to go over the systems and have those conversations," Knoblauch said after Thursday's morning skate.

Projected Oilers lineup

Forward

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins • Connor McDavid • Zach Hyman
• Vasily Podkolzin • Leon Draisaitl • Kasperi Kapanen
• Mattias Janmark • Adam Henrique • Jeff Skinner
• Corey Perry • Derek Ryan • Connor Brown

Defence

• Mattias Ekholm • Evan Bouchard
• Darnell Nurse • Troy Stecher
• Brett Kulak • Ty Emberson

Goal

• Calvin Pickard • Stuart Skinner