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Wild use strong 3rd period to overcome Dubnyk, Oilers

Mar 4, 2013 - 4:57 AM St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Mikko Koivu, Charlie Coyle and Dany Heatley lit the lamp in a three-goal third period, helping Minnesota get past Edmonton, 4-2, at XCel Energy Center.

Jared Spurgeon notched the other goal for the Wild, who have won four of their last six. Niklas Backstrom needed to make just 19 saves for the win, Minnesota's 12th in the last 14 meetings with Edmonton.

"It was a solid 60 minutes by every line and every player," Koivu said.

Devan Dubnyk played well in defeat, making 39 saves for the Oilers, losers in three of their last four.

The clubs entered the third period knotted at 1-1, but Koivu started the hosts on their winning track with a score only nine seconds in.

After the faceoff to begin the stanza, the puck found its way into the Edmonton zone, where Ryan Nugent-Hopkins overskated the disc and Koivu was able to wrist it home.

Coyle's backhander from the inner edge of the left circle slipped between Dubnyk's pads at the 6:09 mark to give Minnesota a 3-1 edge, but Sam Gagner's shot from behind the Minnesota cage caromed off Wild defenseman Ryan Suter and past Backstrom at 12:56.

Heatley's power-play marker with 4:51 remaining was the clincher, a deft deflection from the slot of a Koivu blast.

Spurgeon opened the scoring for the Wild just 2:37 after the drop of the puck, and Magnus Paajarvi tied things at 17:58.

Backstrom wasn't tested at all in the second period -- literally. The Oilers were held without a shot on net for the first time since Nov. 8, 2006. Meanwhile, Dubnyk was forced to make 18 stops to get his team to intermission in a tie contest.

"We have to find ways to raise our level (of play) and compete," Gagner said. "It's a tough loss. We have to do some searching here and get ready for the next one."

Game Notes

The Wild have beaten the Oilers in 20 of their last 22 home matchups ... Coyle is a Boston University product who totaled 14 goals and 25 points in 47 games with Houston in the AHL before his NHL call-up ... Dubnyk's 39 stops tied a season high, first accomplished in a 3-1 win at Columbus on Feb. 10.