Wallstedt impenetrable again, as Wild blank Edmonton

Wild rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt had seen plenty of the Edmonton Oilers on TV in the past minimal years and admitted that they looked impressive But prior to Tuesday Wallstedt had never seen them in person Likewise the highly-regarded Oilers had never seen the NHL s hottest young goalie in person But after minutes of hockey in big-city Alberta they know Wallstedt much better Just hours after being named the NHL s top rookie for November Wallstedt began December in the same manner he went about his business last month stopping all Edmonton shots as the Wild won - to open a four-game road trip It was Wallstedt s league-leading fourth shutout as he improved to - - as a starter Jonas Brodin s first period goal proved to be the eventual game-winner It was Wallstedt s fourth shutout in his past six games The visitors took a few time to find their legs offensively and were being out-shot - midway through the first Then the Wild got the meeting s first power play and while they did not outcome on the man advantage it seemed to light a fire under the puck-movers They headed down the tunnel after minutes with a lead on Brodin s blast from the blue line after Nico Sturm won an offensive zone faceoff and a - advantage in shots It marked the th time in games this season that the Wild have scored first Edmonton grabbed the momentum in the middle frame helped in part by a pair of Ryan Hartman trips to the penalty box The Oilers held a decided - shots lead in the second but Minnesota s penalty killers and Wallstedt met the challenge and Minnesota took its one-goal lead into the second intermission Minnesota got a third period power play and pressured the Edmonton net but ended up -for- on the night with an Oiler in the penalty box The night s best drama came in the final seconds when Matt Boldy went to the penalty box with Edmonton s net empty giving the Oilers a -on- advantage to end the tournament But Joel Eriksson Ek got the puck out of the defensive zone twice and the Wild held on Stuart Skinner much-maligned as a scapegoat for the Oilers below-expectations start to the season had saves for Edmonton which will face the Wild again in a insufficient weeks visiting Grand Casino Arena on Dec The Wild are one-fourth of the way through their current eight-day western road trip and will face the Flames in Calgary on Thursday evening It s another p m CT start Minnesota blanked Calgary - last month in St Paul in their first meeting of the season Related Articles Edmonton means home and hockey for Jared Spurgeon Injury means Yurov will miss Oilers showdown Sabres stun Wild with shootout win snap seven-game win streak Jesper Wallstedt s hot start brings fans a detractor and a t-shirt Wild keep rolling besting Colorado in a shootout