Most teams view a matchup against the Edmonton Oilers as a measuring-stick game.
The Oilers, however, have a few teams they want to measure up against, also. They will face one of those teams when they meet the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in Saint Paul, Minn. Both teams have won six of their last seven games.
“It brings a certain amount of energy and focus when you’re going up against big teams,” Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner said. “It kind of tells you where we are as a team. A lot of lessons learned and a lot of moments where we can see what we’re capable of.”
Minnesota has one of the best records in the NHL with 42 points in its first 28 games. That puts the Wild on pace for a 123-point season, which would shatter the franchise record of 113 set in the 2021-22 campaign.
Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with 43 points (18 goals, 25 assists) in 27 games. He has scored 15 goals on even strength and three on the power play.
Teammate Jared Spurgeon said Kaprizov deserves all of the early-season praise he has received. Kaprizov is among the favorites for the NHL’s Most Valuable Player award through the first quarter of the season.
“He’s such a special player,” Spurgeon said. “He does everything for us. The skill you see, but just the work ethic he has, too, just going into battles. He can play physical when he wants to, as well. He’s such a strong body.
“But there’s not many people like him that can see the game he does.”
Oilers forwards Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid also rank among the best players in the league. Draisaitl lead the NHL with 20 goals entering Wednesday and has 18 assists, and McDavid is tied with him for the team lead with 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists).
Draisaitl said he and his teammates don’t always need to score a ton of goals to earn a win. The Oilers are coming off a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to be able to win games like (that one); 2-1, 3-1, games like that,” Draisaitl said. “It was certainly a good benchmark for us as to how we want to play these games and get them over the finish line.”
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson is expected to get the start in net. He is 14-4-3 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage this season.
In two career games against Edmonton, Gustavsson is 2-0-0 with a 3.00 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
The Oilers could stick with Skinner in net after he stopped 21 of 22 shots to earn the win against the Lightning. Skinner is 10-7-2 with a 2.81 GAA and an .895 save percentage.
Skinner has faced the Wild four times in his career. He is 2-2-0 with a 3.04 GAA and a .900 save percentage.
If the Oilers rest Skinner, they could turn to Calvin Pickard in net. Pickard is 6-3-0 with a 2.56 GAA and an .892 save percentage.
In six career games against Minnesota, Pickard is 2-4-0 with a 2.80 GAA and a .909 save percentage.
