Following arguably their best performance of the season against the Seattle Kraken, the Edmonton Oilers returned home on Tuesday night. Opening a five-game homestand against the Minnesota Wild, following up with another strong game was paramount. Too many times this season, the Oilers have put forth a robust effort, only to fall flat the next time-out.
The major hurdle standing in the Oilers’ way in this instance is a guy nicknamed the “Wall of St. Paul.” Young Swedish netminder Jesper Wallstedt, who the Oilers could have had once, has been that good this season. He came in with a .938 save percentage on the year, and shutouts in three of his last five games. The Oilers offence would have their work cut out for them on this night.
Wouldn’t you know it, the Wild players didn’t give Wallstedt that nickname lightly. He lived up to the billing, proving every Oilers fan from 2021 who believed in this kid on draft day correct. Who knows how many more times we’ll be back here writing this type of article in the future. But for now, it’s a 33-save shutout for one of the greatest missed opportunities in franchise history.
Oilers lose 1–0 to Wild. Everybody prepare to boo the 2021 front-office men who failed us. Here’s the game story.
The goalie at the other end of the ice just simply wouldn’t be beaten
In 2021, then-GM Ken Holland and scouting director Tyler Wright could have drafted Wallstedt. They initially held the 20th overall pick that year. However, Minnesota and GM Bill Guerin successfully bribed the Oilers into a pick swap, booting the Oilers down to pick #22 with the compensation being a Pittsburgh Penguins third-round pick. The Wild draft Wallstedt, the Oilers draft a Xavier Bourgault who, less than five years later, isn’t even with the Oilers organization anymore, everything sucks.
To think that waiting too long to extend Darnell Nurse, and having future (current) Oilers GM Stan Bowman force your hand by overpaying his own top-four defenceman, might not be the biggest mistake Holland made that year. The Wallstedt Fumble might be the biggest what-if in Oilers franchise history. That could end up being Edmonton’s version of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Tuukka Rask.
Not only did he dominate in this game by stopping all the shots he faced, he clearly got into the head of the Oilers. The second power play opportunity was a cavalcade of over-passing and trying to be too perfect. And it’s not a stretch to say it’s because of earlier saves Wallstedt made, including on Zach Hyman during the first man advantage.
That’s “The Wall of St. Paul” for you, sisters, bros, and non-binary those. One of those goalies that’s so lights-out he makes opposing offences second-guess their opportunities.
The Oilers came into this game having had a clear upper hand on Minnesota last season, including a 7–1 pasting last year in the Twin Cities. It was a nice respite from the Wild’s historical control of head-to-head matchups against Edmonton. Just as soon as we felt respite, however, it may have disappeared. This is no fun whatsoever.
Edmonton wins a lot of face-offs, but can’t defend one they lose
The recurring theme of the night was face-offs. As in, Edmonton was winning far more of them than they lost. It helped their penalty kill extend its current run of kills to 8/8, post-Dallas Stars debacle.
Not long after the first of the two successful negations of a Wild power play, however, came what would be the lone goal on this night. We’ve seen the Oilers have trouble before with set face-off plays. On a couple of occasions, they end up in the back of the net. Especially when you don’t prevent the moving screen that was Liam Ohgren here, that’s asking for trouble.
The Oilers did a lot of little things right in this one, which is very reassuring to see. They gave Minnesota little else, and had robust control of play in the final two periods. This just ended up being one of the nights where perfection was required, and the only major mistake made is what loses them the game. Tough way to lose a hockey game.
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The goalie Edmonton does have is playing much better lately
Stuart Skinner has been prone to absolute clunkers of outings in this 2025–26 season. It’s why, despite waking up on November 2 with a .900 save percentage, he woke up on December 2 with an .881 save percentage. Certainly, his November games ran hot-and-cold like the water in your shower when your significant other flushes the toilet.
As of late though, it’s looking like he might be turning it around fully. Dallas game notwithstanding, Skinner has been lights-out in the past 10 days. In that time, he stonewalled the Florida Panthers when they tried to mount a comeback, didn’t let the Kraken sniff the back of the net, and last night allowed the Wild just one tally in which they needed a moving screen just to beat him.
Do not let the social media pagans mislead you. This game was in no way, shape or form Skinner’s fault. If anything, he looked every bit as dialled in as Wallstedt. This game could have easily been a way more entertaining rendition of a “0–0 into overtime” game than what the Calgary Flames put on the other night against Carolina.
For anyone keeping stats at home, Skinner has now stopped 49 of 50 shots since getting pulled against Dallas. This observer suspects the West Edmonton Mall Autograph Session may have been the spark he needed. Congrats to everyone who overflowed the goalies’ line, and waited hours to get their autographs. You get an assist for your positivity inspiring the Stuart Skinner turn-around.
Player perspective
“If we keep playing like we did tonight, more often than not we’ll like the result.” -Mattias Ekholm
Return of the Kraken on Thursday night
Once again, less than a week after seeing an opponent, the Oilers see that opponent again. This time, the Kraken come up north for a date with the Oilers. At least it’s a division rival, unlike Columbus.
Same start time as tonight, 7:00 PM local. It will be interesting to see how the team responds to this loss, given it wasn’t a result of terrible play. Hopefully they own the Kraken again.
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