Oilers drop second straight game as Boldy's two goals lead Wild to win

The Minnesota Wild weathered the Edmonton Oilers' third period onslaught on Friday.

Matt Boldy scored a pair of goals as Minnesota came away with a 4-2 victory over the Oilers, despite getting outshot 24-7 in the final frame.

"We needed to get the job done and play well and I thought we played well tonight," said Boldy. "There was a little bit of a lull in the second period, but you expect that against a team like this and the guys that they have.

"It was a whole team effort, it was nice."

Jonas Brodin and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Wild (27-24-6), who have gone 6-1-1 in their last eight games.

“I liked the start of the game, I thought we played the way we wanted to play,” said Minnesota head coach John Hynes. “I thought in the second half of the second period we got away from it a little bit.

"I thought they were better in the third period than we were, but we found a way to put the puck in the net at key times and we got some key saves."

Filip Gustavsson made 41 saves for the win.

Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman responded for the Oilers (33-18-2), who have lost two in a row, but are nonetheless 28-7-1 in their last 36 games.

Edmonton outshot the Wild 43-20 in the game.

“Our group has just had little lulls, whether it is in the start or in the second and those can’t happen, obviously,” said McDavid, who was credited with hitting three posts in the game, the most of any player in a single game this season. “If you want to be a good team, you have to play all three periods. We haven’t done that in a bit here.”

It appeared as if the Wild had taken a 1-0 lead early in the game on a snipe by Joel Eriksson Ek, but the goal was quickly deemed to have been as the result of being offside and was negated by a video review.

Minnesota started the scoring for real with just 23 seconds to play in the first when Boldy cut into the middle and unleashed a wrist shot that ticked off of the glove of Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard and in for his 21st of the season. Eriksson Ek picked up an assist to extend his points streak to seven games.

Edmonton evened up the contest with a power-play marker midway through the second period as McDavid sent a backhand pass to Draisaitl and he beat Gustavsson short side with his patented one-timer from the right wing for his 28th of the season.

McDavid extended his home-game point streak to 21 games, tying his personal best such streak set last year.

The Oilers came close to getting another one six minutes later when Mattias Ekholm flipped a puck from behind the goal-line that snuck behind Gustavsson and sat in the crease, but Declan Chisholm put it into his goalie's pads after almost poking it in himself.

The Wild retook the lead 9:31 into the third period as Brodin stepped in from the point and blasted a shot past Pickard for his fifth of the season. Kirill Kaprizov extended his points streak to seven games with an assist.

Minnesota went up by a pair 12:17 into the third as Edmonton coughed up the puck and Boldy showed off his deft hands to score his second of the game.

Edmonton got one back with another power play goals coming with five minutes to play as a rebound pinballed around in front before coming to Hyman at the side of the net for his team-leading 35th goal of the campaign.

The Wild put the game away on an empty-net goal by Zuccarello.

“I thought we did a lot of good things, but one thing we didn’t do well was finish,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “There were a lot of pucks that either hit goalposts or trickled wide or were lying around the crease. Sometimes those go in and some nights they don’t. Tonight we were unfortunate in that area.”

NOTES

It was the third and final meeting of the season between the two clubs. Each team had previously won on home ice … Draisaitl collected his 284th career power-play point, moving him past Mark Messier for sole possession of third place in franchise history … In addition to long-term injuries to Marcus Foligno, Pat Maroon and Jared Spurgeon, the Wild were also missing Zach Bogosian (upper body) … Jon Merrill subbed in to take Bogosian’s place on the blue line … The Oilers were healthy, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins returning after missing the previous game with an illness … It was the start of a hectic stretch of 29 games in 55 days for the Oilers, including seven back-to-backs.

UP NEXT

Wild: Complete a three-game road trip against the Kraken in Seattle on Saturday.

Oilers: Play the third game of a five-game homestand on Saturday against the rival Calgary Flames.

With all three sides now level on 25 games played, the top of the PL table reads as follows: Liverpool (57), Manchester City (56), Arsenal (55). Two points separate three teams, with Man City still to play both Liverpool (away - March 10) and Arsenal (home - March 31).

Sometimes the opening goal comes early and the floodgates open, and sometimes you have to wait, and wait, and wait. Tuesday’s game was an example of the latter as Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken made 10 saves in a nearly man-of-the-match performance. Manchester City were inches from breaking the deadlock in the 36th minute, as they piled one wave after wave of pressure. Pep Guardiola’s side took seven shots in seven minutes (1.18 xG combined), beginning in the 30th, including the first half’s best chance at the tail end.

After Brentford halfway cleared a cross, the ball fell to Oscar Bobb on the left side of the penalty area. Bobb cleverly faked the shot and glided past the out-rushing Christian Norgaard, creating a narrow shooting lane with three defenders and Flekken blocking the way. Bobb finally beat Flekken and the other three Bees on the scene, but a fifth, Ben Mee, snuck in behind the action and booted the ball away just before it crossed the line.

For all of the well-worked chances (25 shots, 11 on target), it would be the simplest, most elementary of them all that finally put the three-time defending Premier League champions ahead. Julian Alvarez played a seemingly innocuous through ball to Haaland, with Kristoffer Ajer on the scene and closing in quickly — until he slipped, and suddenly there was nothing but 50 yards of wide open, green grass in front of him. Haaland raced in on goal and slotted his left-footed finish under Flekken from just outside the box.

Haaland briefly thought he had his second goal of the game in the 80th minute, as he headed the ball into an empty net from near the goal line. However, video review revealed that Kyle Walker had strayed inches offside as the first of two brilliant balls diced the defense and teed Haaland up.

The Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard was named the Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP on Sunday after scoring 39 points with 11 3-pointers to lead the Eastern Conference to a 211-186 win over the West.

 

He joined Michael Jordan in 1988 as the only other player in league history to win a Saturday night event and be named MVP in the same All-Star Weekend.

Lillard won the 3-point contest, edging the Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns and the Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young in the final round. Jordan won the dunk contest in 1988.

"Anytime you're mentioned in the same category as Mike, it's an honor and a major accomplishment," Lillard said. "Even if it's All-Star Weekend, because if it was that simple, more people would've done it since 1988, so that's a major accomplishment for me to be mentioned in the same conversation as far as that.

"I did come into the weekend -- I knew I was doing the 3-point, and I came to win. I didn't come to be casual and be cool about it ... I'm gonna come into the All-Star Game, my first start, I'm gonna be on the floor a lot, and I'm a vet in this game at this point, so why not try to go get an MVP since I've been here enough. ... I would just say it was just something that I put my mind on, and that's what my intentions were this weekend, and I was able to do it."

Lillard, in his first season with the Bucks, became the fifth player to win All-Star Game MVP in his first season with a new team, excluding rookies.

He also became the 20th player to win All-Star MVP while playing for his coach during that season; Milwaukee's Doc Rivers coached the East team, which put up the most points in the game's 73-year history. The previous mark: 196 by the West in 2016.

Lillard said the East wanted the record.

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich slumped to its third consecutive defeat on Sunday as Bochum came from behind to defeat the 11-time defending champion 3-2 in the Bundesliga.

It left Thomas Tuchel’s team eight points behind league leader Bayer Leverkusen with 12 rounds remaining and will increase doubts over the Bayern coach’s future after a midweek loss to Lazio in the Champions League and last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Leverkusen.

“It feels like a horror film that just doesn't end,” Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka said. “Everything is going against us at the moment.”

Not even fans’ protests against an outside Bundesliga investor – which continued Sunday with remote-controlled model airplanes flown onto the field during Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-3 draw with Freiburg and tennis balls interrupting Bayern's game – will give Tuchel respite from the scrutiny that is sure to follow.

“Today was a bit like Murphy's Law. Anything that could go against us, anything that could go wrong, went wrong,” said Tuchel, who must now prepare for Leipzig's visit next weekend.

Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said Tuchel will “of course” be in charge for that match, but didn't rule out making a change at a later stage.

Sunday's games were just the latest subjected to delays and interruptions as supporters showed their opposition to the German soccer league’s controversial plan to sell a stake in the Bundesliga’s media rights income to an outside investor.

They started after Jamal Musiala fired Bayern into an early lead.

Bochum fans threw tennis balls onto the field forcing an early halt to play. As soon as they were cleared, Bayern supporters flung more from their section, leading referee Daniel Schlager to tell both teams to return to their locker rooms. The fans also chanted against the German soccer league (DFL) with an expletive.

Bochum coach Thomas Letsch used the unplanned break to good effect as he held earnest talks with his players, and the game resumed some 13 minutes later.

“Of course you can use it to make a few corrections. That’s the positive,” Letsch said of the protests.

Takuma Asano equalized in the 38th after playing a one-two with Anthony Losilla, and Keven Schlotterbeck put the home side in front with a header to a corner before the break.

More tennis balls followed in the second half, and Bayern’s struggles continued when the game resumed. Tuchel sent on Leroy Sané and new signing Bryan Zaragoza for the last half hour.

But while Letsch remained on the sideline to urge on his team, Tuchel remained withdrawn on his bench.

It got worse for Bayern when Dayot Upamecano was penalized for a high arm against Schlotterbeck in the 76th. The French defender was shown his second yellow card and Kevin Stöger duly scored from the spot.

Bochum ’keeper Manuel Riemann made a fine save to deny Sané before fellow substitute Mathys Tel set up Harry Kane for what proved Bayern's consolation in the 87th.

FLYING IN FRANKFURT

Frankfurt's game had barely started when fans threw confectionery on the field to force a stoppage.

There was another hold-up after the break when at least two small airplanes were flown onto the field and more confectionery was thrown from behind one of the goals.

“No to investors in the DFL!” read a huge banner behind the goal.

Frankfurt forward Saša Kalajdžić had to go off early with an apparent knee injury sustained off-the-ball after the first interruption. He reappeared later on crutches.

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush scored one goal then twice set up substitute Ansgar Knauff for Frankfurt, but Michael Gregoritsch scored Freiburg's third goal in the 89th. Gregoritsch also had an effort cleared off the line as both teams went for the win in a frenetic finale.

PROTESTS SPREAD

There were also protests in the second division earlier, with Nuremberg fans interrupting their team’s game against Kaiserslautern by entering the inner stadium area to show banners denouncing the proposed deal directly behind one of the goals. The match resumed after several minutes when they were convinced to return to their places.

Friday and Saturday's games were also plagued by protests, which followed disruptions to the previous weekend's matches across the first and second divisions.

Remote-controlled vehicles carrying smoke bombs were used to disrupt a game Saturday.

Many fans want the DFL's proposed deal scrapped entirely as they are worried about the influence any investor could have on the league. As a first step, many are calling for the December vote that narrowly approved the deal to be re-run, this time with club executives voting publicly.

One of the NBA’s finest head coaches was a guest at the City Football Academy today.

Joe Mazzulla is in the charge of the world-renowned Boston Celtics, who have won a remarkable 17 NBA Finals, the joint most alongside the Los Angeles Lakers.

City fan Mazzulla has enjoyed a weekend in Manchester to watch the Treble winners both play and train.

After attending the Chelsea game, today he met up with fellow coach Pep Guardiola as the pair exchanged jerseys.

Mazzulla also watched on as the team started their preparations for the next Premier League clash, with Brentford, chatting to the players before and after the session.


This season, under Mazzulla, the Celtics top the Eastern Conference and the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division and boast the No.1 record overall for defence and offense in the NBA.

And Mazzulla himself reached an impressive milestone this past Wednesday - in just his second year with the Celtics – earning his 100th win after Boston’s 136-86 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

The 35-year-old now boasts a 100-37 overall record, a mark that currently puts him at the top of the NBA record books for winning percentage - .730 - for coaches with 100 wins.

It was the team’s fifth 50-point win in their history – and their second this season under Mazzulla - who has his team off to the best start since 2008 at 43-12.

He was here in the UK for a whistle-stop tour due to a break in his NBA schedule because of the All-Star weekend.

It was wonderful to have him with us - and we wish him the best of luck for the rest of the NBA season.