EDMONTON, Alberta — For the first time in three games, the Wild didn't squander a multi-goal lead.
That's because they never were ahead.
Although they did regroup after falling behind early, the Wild couldn't surpass the Oilers and lost, 5-2, on Friday at Rogers Place to drop two in a row before their road trip concludes Saturday at Vancouver.
Kailer Yamamoto's first goal of the season for Edmonton was the difference, a second-period tiebreaker that held up amid a 42-save effort from goaltender Stuart Skinner.
NHL-leading scorer Connor McDavid also capitalized to extend his goal streak to seven games, while Kirill Kaprizov's goal streak ended at seven.
(Kaprizov did have one puck go in the net, but Edmonton challenged for goaltender interference and video review ruled Kaprizov pushed Skinner's pad into the net to cause the goal.)
The winger, however, kept his career-best and franchise-record point streak going, pushing it to 14 games with an assist.
The Wild were in rally mode shortly after puck drop, with the Oilers' Derek Ryan jamming in his own rebound at 2 minutes, 45 seconds of the first period after a Jake Middleton giveaway deep in Wild territory.
That Edmonton advantage doubled at 8:59 on the power play when McDavid was left all alone on the right side to fling the puck by Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. McDavid is atop the NHL leaderboard in goals (25) and points (54) and is on an eight-game point streak.
But the Wild didn't exit the period empty-handed.
After Kaprizov's overturned goal, Joel Eriksson Ek intercepted a behind-the-net pass by the Oilers and skated to the front for a rising shot by Skinner at 11:24 for his fourth goal over his last five games.
Then 6:22 into the second, Mats Zuccarello delivered the equalizer on the power play, a shot from the slot set up by Kaprizov.
Zuccarello now has 14 points in his past 14 games, and Kaprizov is up to 21 points during his 14-game point streak; his run is the third longest in the NHL this season, trailing only the active 21-game streak by Toronto's Mitch Marner and a 16-game blitz by Dallas' Jason Robertson.
Captain Jared Spurgeon also factored into the Zuccarello goal to notch his 117th power-play point with the Wild, which is one behind Zach Parise for sixth-most in franchise history at 118.
Making a comeback instead of preventing one seemed to suit the Wild better.
They actually led by two goals in the 5-3 loss at Calgary on Wednesday and eked out a 6-5 shootout win at Dallas last Sunday that kicked off this four-game trip despite blowing a four-goal cushion in the third period.
But the Wild didn't find the go-ahead goal.
That belonged to Edmonton: Yamamoto tipped in a Darnell Nurse point shot with 7:06 to go in the second period.
The Wild had a chance for another tying goal on the power play that spilled over to the start of the third, but they failed to convert. They finished 1 for 5, while the Oilers' esteemed power play went 2 for 3.
Their second goal with the man advantage was an insurance tally 3:43 into the third, an uncontested shot from power play specialist Leon Draisaitl that McDavid assisted on for his second point of the night. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked up his second assist on the goal and later added an empty-net goal with nine seconds to go.
Fleury totaled 33 saves for the Wild.
This result split the season series between these two Western Conference rivals.
The Wild won the first meeting 5-3 on Dec. 1 at Xcel Energy Center, and they'll also host the rubber match on Monday back in St. Paul.
