All things being even, Wild’s top line dominates Oilers’ stars

The all-but-unbeatable Soviet hockey teams from the 1960s and 1970s dominated via possession. The opponent can t score if it doesn t have the puck. The Soviets would hold the puck seemingly forever and force opponents — no matter how talented they were offensively — to chase the game. In getting a point on the road versus the powerful Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, and dominating long stretches of an eventual 4-3 overtime loss, the Minnesota Wild s fearsome top line may have taken a page out of the old Soviet playbook to dominate Edmonton s top line while the teams were playing at even strength. With a Wild player (or two) in the penalty box, the Oilers first unit of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin helped put up three of Edmonton s four goals, and that trio combined for six points. But that same top line was shut out in even-strength play, as the head-to-head matchup with Minnesota s top unit of Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy tilt