RECAP: Wild 3, Oilers 0

For a game that had zero implications for the Oilers, Monday’s 3-0 loss to the Wild was about as frustrating as one could be.

The season cannot end soon enough for Adam Larsson, Jesse Puljujarvi, and just about any Oiler that isn’t named Connor McDavid. The season can’t end soon enough for fans, the beer vendors, and just about anyone else who’s paid attention. There are two more games and they cannot come fast enough.

• It’s game 80 in a non-playoff year, but Adam Larsson probably wishes the ice would swallow him up after Zack Parise stole that puck.
• Zero goals. I mentioned that already, but yeah. Oilers are now 0-4-1 in their last five.
• Zero goals for the Oilers keeps Connor McDavid at 103 total points. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov remains closest in the scoring race at 97 points.
• The win clinched a playoff berth for the Wild. The loss was Edmonton’s 40th in regulation this year.
• Everyone loves a shutout, especially when your team is the one shutting out the opposition. Devan Dubnyk picked up his fifth of the year.
• The third line of Milan Lucic - Ryan Strome - Jesse Puljujarvi stinks and I don’t like it anymore. There’s absolutely nothing going on for Milan Lucic, there hasn’t been for half a season. He’s not exactly generating offence with one goal in his last 40+ games. Ryan Strome has exactly three point in his last sixteen games, and because of this, it’s become a good idea to saddle them with Jesse Puljuarvi. What’s a guy going to do with that line?
• I saw a Caggiula-Khaira-McDavid line for a hot second last night. I guess if you’re going to try something new and exciting, Game 80 of a blown year is the time. You’re gonna be stunned when you find out the return wasn’t great.
• What is this team going to do in the offseason? They’ve got 18 million dollars (or a little more than 20 million if the cap bounces nicely) to sign Darnell Nurse, to figure out what they’re going to do with Ryan Strome, and to lock up talent to play on the wings in the top six. Oh, and they’ve got about four or five more deals to sign after that. Yes, Kailer Yamamoto is an option, and so is Jesse Puljujarvi if they decide to pull him off Lucic Island between now and September. I think both you and I know that giving Pontus Aberg a floatation device and putting him on the top line is an outcome they’ve beat around a few times.
• Two more games. Vegas on Thursday, Vancouver on Saturday. Then, the offseason coverage begins. There’s the draft lottery, (our Super Bowl) the scouting combine, the draft, and free agency. Who’s having fun now?