Wallstedt gets another shutout, Wild edge Oilers to push point streak to 12

EDMONTON -- Jesper Wallstedt made 33 saves for his fourth shutout in his past six starts, and the Minnesota Wild extended their point streak to 12 games with a 1-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

Wallstedt, who went 6-0-0 through November, leads the NHL with four shutouts this season. Five of his 10 NHL wins have come via shutout.

“This is pretty fun. We’re playing great. The way we defend and our structure in our D-zone right now, the way guys sacrifice themselves, it’s a team effort, and the way we’ve been playing in our own zone especially has been nothing else but spectacular,” said Wallstedt, who was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month prior to Tuesday’s game. “It’s fun. I’ve never played like this before, I don’t think.

“I just can’t thank my teammates enough. Nothing would be possible without them. I’m just trying to do my job and making a lot of saves, but you can’t do that without the way we’ve been playing tonight and every other game.”

Jonas Brodin scored the game’s lone goal for the Wild (15-7-5), who are 10-0-2 during the point streak.

“I thought it was a really highly competitive game by both teams,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “I thought as the game went on they had some pushes, and I thought we did a good job defending and we got some good goaltending, a lot of blocked shots.

“It’s always a tough team to play against and I’m glad we found a way to win.”

Stuart Skinner made 23 saves for the Oilers (11-11-5), who had won two of three but were shut out for the first time this season.

“Obviously, you’re disappointed any time you lose,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “You’re looking for the negatives, you look to critique the things we didn’t do … but overall, I thought we played a game that more often than not would result in us coming out victorious and feeling good about ourselves.

“I’m disappointed that we lost, but it was more of what we need.”

The Oilers were coming off a shutout of their own, 4-0, at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.

“They defended well. Obviously, they’re playing well. Their goalie is playing well, they’re doing a lot of really good things,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. “I thought there were some good signs. We played real solid in Seattle. I thought we played another pretty decent one here today. That’s a good sign.

“I thought we generated looks. We only gave up one. Usually when you give up one you’re going to win a lot of games. We didn’t.”

Brodin put the Wild ahead 1-0 at 13:11 of the first period with a one-timer near the blue line off a face-off win by Nico Sturm.

“I thought it was a good game. I thought ‘Wally’ was really good in net. I thought we defended really hard,” Brodin said. “I think maybe the next game we can be a little bit better offensive probably.

“But other than that, I thought it was a great game, and ‘Wally’ was so good and made a lot of really good saves.”

The Oilers’ best chance of the game came off the stick of Zach Hyman at 9:49 of the second period. He steered a backhand around a prone Wallstedt only to have the goalie extend his right pad just enough to keep it out.

“That’s close. Obviously, if I get it up it’s in,” Hyman said. “It was a quick play. I got it where I want it, I just couldn’t get it up and he still got a toe on it even though he was sliding.

“Good save.”

Minnesota also credited the other half of its goaltending tandem, Filip Gustavsson, for the team’s recent success.

“Both of them have played so incredibly strong for us no matter who we play against. No matter how we play they always seem to show up,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said. “To have two goalies like that, it makes our job easier, both physically and mentally knowing just the confidence they have back there just bleeds throughout the whole lineup.”

NOTES: Wallstedt became the fourth rookie goaltender in NHL history, and the first in 87 years, to record four shutouts over a span of six games. The others are Frank Brimsek (1938-39 Boston Bruins), Dolly Dolson (1928-29 Detroit Cougars) and Tiny Thompson (1928-29 Bruins). ... Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov’s goal streak ended at five games (six goals), and his point streak also ended at seven games (seven goals, two assists). ... Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl’s point streak ended at eight games (five goals, eight assists).