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Wild skate past Oilers

Jan 17, 2014 - 5:45 AM St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist to support Darcy Kuemper's 20-save effort in the Minnesota Wild's 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at XCel Energy Center.

Nate Prosser, Justin Fontaine and Jason Zucker also tallied to help the Wild improve to 6-2-0 in January and deal the Western Conference cellar-dwelling Oilers a sixth consecutive road loss.

"Prosser is an unbelievable professional," said Wild coach Mike Yeo. "There's no question he's made the absolute most of this opportunity. He's a guy that wins."

Jordan Eberle produced Edmonton's lone highlight with a first-period goal. Ben Scrivens, acquired from Toronto for a 2014 third-round draft choice on Wednesday, stopped 29 shots in his Oilers' debut.

"I felt pretty good, but I need to find a way to make another save or two for the guys here. Every game at this point of my career is another chance for me to develop and get better," Scrivens said. "Every team is different, we did so many things well in our own zone, but we made a few mistakes."

The teams were knotted at 1-1 deep into the second period before the Wild scored twice within a span of just over two minutes to move in front to stay.

A giveaway by the Oilers' Ryan Jones led to Prosser blasting a shot over Scrivens' glove and into the top right corner of the Edmonton net with 3:15 to go in the middle session. Fontaine made it a two-goal advantage 1:03 prior to the second intermission, starting a 3-on-2 rush that he later finished by putting home a rebound of Kyle Brodziak's initial attempt.

The Wild needed a mere eight seconds to extend the margin in the third period. Zucker skated down the left wing following a faceoff win and worked a give- and-go with Dany Heatley that ended with the former burying the puck over a diving Scrivens for a 4-1 lead.

Kuemper polished off his third win in four starts by registering only five saves over the final 20 minutes.

Minnesota began the scoring just past the midway mark of the opening period, with Mikael Granlund taking the puck away from Edmonton defensemen Martin Marincin behind the Oiler net and sending a no-look backhand feed that Pominville deposited in from close range.

Eberle pulled the Oilers even with an unassisted marker with 2:36 to go in the first, racing into the Minnesota zone on a 2-on-1 and beating Kuemper with a top-shelf wrister.

Game Notes

The game was the 1,000th in the history of the Wild franchise ... Minnesota has scored at least one third-period goal in each of its last 17 victories, dating back to a 2-1 shootout triumph over Toronto on Nov. 13 ... The 0-5-1 road skid is Edmonton's longest since an 0-7-1 stretch from Jan. 3-Feb. 8, 2012 ... Pominville, the Wild's leader with 19 goals this season, had gone a season-long six-game span without one ... Eberle has recorded 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in 16 career meetings with Minnesota ... Oilers forward Ales Hemsky sat out the game after being hit in the ankle by a shot during Tuesday's loss at Dallas.