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A brutal hit by Evander Kane and some offensive brilliance by Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard saw the Edmonton Oilers beat the Wild of Minnesota, 4-3.

Edmonton now has 11 wins in 24 games, as the team fights back into the playoff race. They fought back in this game, coming from behind after the Wild took a 3-2 lead in the second.

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But the Oilers were the dominant team when it came to flow of play, getting twice as many quality shots.

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In total, when it came to Grade A shots (which go in 25 per cent of the time on average, it was Edmonton 20, the Wild, 9. In the subset of 5-alarm shots (which go in 33 per cent), it was Edmonton, seven, Minnesota, six.

Connor McDavid, 8. One goal, one assist, major contributions to nine Grade A shots, and one of the best goals of his NHL career. He set up Nuge and Hyman for early 5-alarm jam shots, but neither could score. Utterly brilliant in a way only McD is brilliant on his virtuoso goal early in the second, where he deked a d-man, then Marc-Andre Fleury, then managed to tuck in the puck from behind the net. He made a few big mistakes late in the game, but the Wild could not score. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +7/-2; Special Teams +2/-0.

Zach Hyman, 6. He almost crashed in an early rebound, then backhanded a slot shot on net a moment later. He went hard to the net, opening up the lane for McDavid’s early second period goal. A moment later McD set up the Hy guy for a dangerous one-timer. GAS: ES +5/-0; ST +1/-0.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 9. Excellent with the pass tonight. Four assists. A key cog in Edmonton’s big line. Failed to drain two early Grade As, one from in tight, one from the high slot. His brilliant cross-ice dart set up Bouchard’s first period goal. Fine pass to set up McDavid’s early second period scoring rush, and another solid set up on Drai’s harpoon goal on the PP late in the second. He forced a turnover on a key third period PK. He went hard to the net, fought off a fouling Wild defender and almost cashed in a pass from McD in the third. GAS: ES +7/-1; ST +1/-0.

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Leon Draisaitl, 7. Some offensive brilliance and a few defensive struggles on a line that is suspect in its own end to date. Broke in early and ripped a Grade A shot. He allowed the outside shot on the first Wild goal. He was frustrated on the bench, casting off a pair of gloves, but he found a creative outlet for his pain by hammering in his Executioner’s Shot on the power play to tie the game late in the third. Said analyst Craig MacTavish after the second period of Draisaitl’s obvious anger on the bench: “By far his body language is the most talked about body language in all of hockey. But what difference does it make? He goes out there and he performs.” He drew a big penalty late in the third. GAS: ES +1/-3; ST +2/-0.

Connor Brown, 4. Hmm. Not getting it done just now. But some good work on the PK. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-1.

Evander Kane, 6. Had a huge, huge, huge impact on this game with his nasty but unpenalized hit on Jonas Brodin of the Wild. His stretch set up Draisaitl for an early Grade A. He thundered Brodin into the boards with a wicked hit early in the third. If that hit had been a five-minute major, there would not have been many complaints, perhaps not even from the Oilers Faithful. Brodin never returned to the game. But he drew a retaliatory penalty on the play. He got badly deked out on Boldy’s 2-on-1 rush late in the game. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.

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Ryan McLeod, 6. Solid two-way game. He failed to drain a slot shot in the second. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.

Warren Foegele, 7. Dangerous on the attack, solid on defence. He jammed a puck on net in a late first period power play, then set up McLeod for a dangerous shot half-way through the second.  He charged and deked in for a 5-alarm wrist shot early in the third. Some solid work on the PK. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +3/-0.

Mattias Janmark, 6. Smart game from a savvy defensive forward. He rushed the puck up ice and took it all the way to the net for a jam shot late in the second.  GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +0/-1.

Sam Gagner, 6. Some good hustle. He played just 7:45. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +1/-0.

Derek Ryan, 6. One of the many PK aces on this team just now. He lost a puck in the corner leading to the first Wild Grade A shot, but a solid PK clearance a moment later. He set up Hamblin’s great second period shot, then blocked a shot. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-0.

James Hamblin, 5. He’s hanging in there. Unable to score on a great set up from Ryan in the second. He was slow to cover Connor Dewar in the slot on the third Wild goal, but that was a fast developing play. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

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Darnell Nurse, 5. Not his best game but he made up for a lot with a huge defensive stop in the third, sliding and getting his stick on Matt Boldy’s cross-seam pass on a 2-on-1. He won a battle on the boards, controlled the puck and kicked of a sequence leading to Draisaitl’s early Grade A shot. He was caught sleeping a moment later on the Wild’s first Grade A, then failed to move his feet and took a hooking call. He was slow to his man on the first Wild goal. GAS: ES +1/-4; ST +0/-0.

Cody Ceci, 5.  Timely shot block on Edmonton’s first PK. His man Boldy beat him to the rebound on the first Wild goal. He made a defensive stop on a key third period PK, setting off Foegele for a dangerous rush. Usually steady, he made a late game turnover, punching the puck into the slot which a Wild attacker slammed off the post. GAS: ES +1/-3; ST +1/-0.

Mattias Ekholm, 6. He moved well, made slick passes, and more than held his own defence. But got deked at the blueline on the second Wild goal. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST +`1/-1.

Evan Bouchard, 8. Two goals, one assist, excellent game. His skating and puckhandling have never been better. I predicted on Oilers Now he’d get 90 points this year and that prediction is holding up so far. Fantastic stretch pass to kick off a dangerous early rush, then a fantastic job picking that top shelf where Momma keeps the cookies on Edmonton’s first goal. But he was lost in space, wandering in the Red Light Zone, not covering his man or any shooting or passing lane, on the second Wild goal. It looked like old times and terrible times from earlier this year on that rush goal against. His solid pinch led a McD Grade A shot late in the second, as well as extended Oilers pressure. He made up for his mistake on the goal against driving in a 97 miles per hour Bouch Bomb on the power play early in the third. GAS: ES +4/-2; ST +2/-0.

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Vincent Desharnais, 6. Kept it simple at even strength and was part of a solid defensive effort on the PK, though he did allow on 5-alarm slot shot in the third.n GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-1.

Brett Kulak, 5. He got out-battled on the slot pass on the third Wild goal. He shot back like a rocket to stop a dangerous rush by Frederick Gaudreau early in the third.. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

Stuart Skinner, 6. Not much chance on the first three Wild goals, but the Wild did get three on their first five Grade A shots, not a great ratio for #74. But he came up big on a one-timer and slot shot on a key third period PK, the harpoon by Kaprizov, the jam by Eriksson-Ek. Solid in the third with one massive save with one second left.

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