Wild, 3 vs. Oilers, 2

The Wild keep their playoff hopes alive, if only for a couple more days, with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Niklas Backstrom made 31 saves on the night for a franchise record 34th win and improved to 13-1-0 against the Oilers, in a rare win for the Wild at Rexall Place. The Wild got the scoring start when Marian Gaborik fanned on a shot that went directly to Andrew Brunette who scored while falling down as the powerplay had just expired, giving the Wild a 1-0 lead. And just 1:51 later, the Wild built a 2-0 lead when Martin Skoula scored from the point, his 2nd goal in 3 games. After a scoreless 2nd, the Oilers began to make it interesting, cutting the lead in half when 1:04 into the third, Oilers captain Ethan Moreau drove to the net, and Fernando Pisani tipped the puck in past Backstrom. But the Wild answered back, when on a delayed penalty drawn by James Sheppard, Gaborik comes on the ice as the extra man and scored, giving the Wild another 2 goal lead. The Wild were outshot 16-4 in the third period, and eventually the Oilers cut the lead down to one again on an Ales Kotalik goal with just under 5 minutes to play, but Backstrom's play was solid and the Wild were able to leave Alberta with 2 out of 4 points on the weekend road trip.

The Wild got the win and the two points last night, but so did the Preds, Blues and Ducks...it's going to be hard for them to get into the playoffs with the other teams ahead of them playing as well as they have been.

Notes:

• Mikko Koivu returned after missing 3 games with a knee injury, he had a TOI of 19:06 and won 13 of 20 faceoffs.
  
• Pierre-Marc Bouchard missed his 2nd consecutive game with what the Wild are now saying is a concussion, most likely occurring during the Islanders' game when Nate Thompson checked Bouchard.
  
• Kurtis Foster was a scratch, along with Colton Gillies and Peter Olvecky, who was out after blocking a shot during the Calgary game; Krys Kolanos played after being called up earlier in the day.
• LOL, during John Scott's fight with Zack Stortini, Stortini ripped of Scott's nameplate, and Scott had to play the rest of the first period with only his #36.
  
• Clutterbuck's getting a lot of attention lately with a NHL.com and THN article about him.
  
• Stats from the night: Skoula +3, Sheppard +2, Patrick O'Sullivan -3
  
• On a not Wild related note, I hope that some of you caught the Canucks-Blackhawks game last night, as a pretty interesting brawl erupted after Dustin Byfuglien checks Roberto Luongo in the face...it just gives me more reason to dislike Alex Burrows after watching him fight (I'm a girl and even I wouldn't pull hair in a fight ^_^). Really, they should put mics in the penalty box, I would pay to watch that show...
  
  
  LOL that the penalty box is full, and the bench is half empty.
  

UP NEXT: Tuesday vs. Vancouver Canucks, 7:00pm CT