ST. PAUL, Minn. — Some of the Wild's best performances of the season have come as the visitor, but it's clear where the team shines.
The Wild halted a rolling Oilers squad led by not one but two 100-point scorers, steamrolling them 5-1 on Tuesday in front of 19,035 for the team's ninth win over its last 10 games at Xcel Energy Center.
Overall, the Wild is 26-7-2 at home with one of those losses the Winter Classic at Target Field. Only the Avalanche has more home victories in the Western Conference at 28.
Kevin Fiala and Ryan Hartman each scored twice while Kirill Kaprizov surpassed 90 points after assisting on two goals.
After a Blues win earlier in the evening briefly demoted the Wild to third, the Wild tied the Blues at 96 points and regained second place in the Central Division because it's played one fewer game. That second seed will host a first-round playoff matchup vs. the third finisher.
Although Edmonton capitalized just once against Wild goalie Cam Talbot, who recorded his 198th career victory while improving to 10-0-2 over his past 12 starts after his 27-save showing, the Oilers did create other offense — just for the Wild.
Frederick Gaudreau was the first recipient, taking an errant feed from Edmonton defenseman Duncan Keith to the front of the net and sliding the puck around goalie Mikko Koskinen at 5 minutes, 37 seconds of the first period.
In the second, Fiala pressured the Oilers into a giveaway that eventually ended up back on Fiala's stick courtesy a Matt Boldy pass and Fiala flung the puck by Koskinen at 3:01.
Then at 9:40, Fiala scooped up a poor clearing attempt and wired in the puck from a challenging angle along the goal line.
That was Fiala's 26th goal, a career high that's third most on the Wild. Fiala has four multi-goal games this season and 10 points in his last 11.
This goal also came while Fiala was getting double shifted on the fourth line after Tyson Jost was elevated in the lineup to play with Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno after their usual linemate Jordan Greenway left the first period with an upper-body injury.
But the Wild didn't look fatigued.
At 13:12 of the second, Hartman tallied his first of the game when he finished off a Kaprizov feed in front before converting again 3:22 into the third after burying a rebound for his third multi-goal effort. His 29 goals trail only Kaprizov (42) on the team, and Hartman is up to 13 points over his past 14 games.
As for Kaprizov, who also assisted on Hartman's second goal, he's at 91 points. With 49 assists, he's one shy of tying linemate Mats Zuccarello and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (2007-08) for the single season franchise record. Koskinen totaled 18 saves for Edmonton, which had won six of its previous seven games before facing the Wild.
Not until 5:39 of the third period did the Oilers finally convert, a shot by Leon Draisaitl for his 51st goal and 102nd point. Connor McDavid, who leads the NHL in scoring at 108, was held pointless.
Edmonton finished 1 for 3 on the power play and the Wild 0-for-3 with its last look after a scrum broke out around Kaprizov and Edmonton's Evander Kane before Hartman stepped in to tussle with Kane. Both players received roughing minors and 10-minute misconducts, with Kane also getting an extra two minutes for cross-checking.
