A tough loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night meant that the Oilers were unable to make up any ground in the Western Conference playoff chase.
In the second period the Wild scored twice only 18 seconds apart en route to a 4-3 win over the Oilers in St. Paul. The Wild got goals from Jarod Palmer, who scored his first NHL career goal, and a game winner 19 seconds later from Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
The Wild also got a strong game from defenceman Marek Zidlicky who led the Wild with three assists.
The game was extremely physical with an abundance of penalties on both sides. Twice Oilers enforcer Darcy Hordichuk fought Edmonton native Matt Kassian who plays for Minnesota. Kassian, who won both fights, also had a ten minute misconduct in the first period.
The Oilers have now lost six straight games away from Rexall Place and are currently nine points back of the Los Angeles Kings for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Their next game is against the New York Islanders on Saturday morning, in what is a must win situation.
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