EDMONTON, Alberta – The Wild didn't just tidy up its defensive zone after a messy setup recently.
At the other end of the ice, the team also sharped up its offense.
That combination was too much for the Oilers to handle, a 7-3 rout on Sunday at Rogers Place that nixed the Wild's two-game skid at the beginning of a four-game road trip.
This was the team's sixth game that featured at least seven goals, the most in franchise history. The Wild is one of only two teams this season to tally seven-plus goals in six or more contests; Colorado has seven.
Kevin Fiala scored twice and added an assist, the fourth line chipped in two goals and Kaapo Kahkonen set the record for rookie wins by a Finnish-born goalie after improving to 12-3-2 on the season with a 30-save performance.
After back-to-back lopsided losses, the Wild finally hit the reset button.
This bounce-back effort started to take shape almost immediately, with the Wild opening the scoring only 2 minutes, 49 seconds after puck drop when a new-look line delivered.
In his return to action after not playing since Jan.1 due to a broken finger, Nick Bjugstad sent the puck to Brandon Duhaime for a one-timer that eluded Edmonton goalie Mike Smith.
The Wild also had one-goal leads in those letdowns to Winnipeg and Florida but this time, the players kept piling on the pressure against an Oilers squad that had won five in a row since a coaching change.
By 5:21, the Wild scored again after Joel Eriksson Ek capitalized on a shot from the slot for his team-leading 10th power play goal. The Wild finished 1-for-4, and the Oilers were 1-for-1.
Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello assisted on the play, extending their respective point streaks to five games. Kaprizov has 30 points over his last 18 games, while Zuccarello's 19 points on the power play are a career high.
Fiala had the next two highlights, giving the Wild four goals on seven shots.
At 6:17, he toe-dragged around a sprawled Darnell Nurse before burying a shot off a 2-on-1 rush. Then, Fiala skated into a Matt Boldy pass for a partial breakaway that he wired past Smith's blocker at 13:38. This was Fiala's second multi-goal game of the season and over his past 18 games, he's racked up 22 points.
That finish also chased Smith from the game, who left with three saves and was replaced by Mikko Koskinen. He had 12 stops in relief. Overall, the four goals from the Wild tied the franchise record for the first period and matched the single high for a period this season.
But Edmonton didn't exit the period emptyhanded, with Evander Kane's redirect on the power play at 16:32 getting behind Kahkonen.
The Oilers had another late goal in the second, Tyler Benson's first career goal with 4:02 to go, but by then Edmonton had already fallen further behind the Wild.
Connor Dewar's shot caromed off the post and banked off Koskinen before rolling in 8:28 into the period. And then Boldy picked up his second point of the game at 14:21 when he flung a shot in from the middle. Through 16 games, the rookie has 16 points.
In the third, Zuccarello converted on a breakaway 5:36 into the period to seal his fourth straight game with multiple points. His 17 goals are the third-most in his NHL career. The Oilers scored once more on a backhand from Zach Hyman with 1:06 to go.
Kahkonen's 31 victories have passed Pekka Rinne for tops among Finnish-born rookies.
