In the midst of the Wild’s struggles in the second period Tuesday night, Charlie Coyle sat on the bench as coach Mike Yeo shouted out orders for the next line — Coyle’s third line.
Thomas Vanek. Justin Fontaine. …. Erik Haula.
Like that, Coyle had been demoted, relegated to the fourth line for early play that Yeo deemed unbefitting of his previous spot.
For most of a period, Coyle played on the fourth line, a humbling experience for a player who hoped his play would help him slide up the depth chart, not down.
But given a chance to redeem himself in the third period, Coyle took Yeo’s eye-opening message and turned it into the winning goal in the Wild’s 4-3 victory at the Xcel Energy Center over an improving Edmonton Oilers team.
“I think the main thing out of that story is that he responded,” Yeo said. “That’s what you want from players. You want players to have an edge and push back, and I think he showed some pride. The way he played the third period was a real positive.”
Coyle’s struggles were difficult to pinpoint.
As Yeo described it: “I didn’t see as much of Charlie Coyle as I would’ve liked to have seen.”
As Coyle described it: “I wasn’t playing my game.”
Whatever the reason, struggles in the second period for both Coyle and the Wild led to a tie game entering the third period.
But after the Oilers took their first lead 3:38 into the third period, the Wild responded with a pair of goals 43 seconds apart, the first by Ryan Suter to tie the score and the latter by Coyle, a five-hole goal past Edmonton’s Cam Talbot. They provided a pleasant response for a team playing its third game in four days and fourth in six days.
“I like that we were able to come back and get that win tonight,” Yeo said.
After Coyle’s goal on a feed from Vanek, he rung the crossbar later in the third period and, as a reward for his improved play, was put on the ice in the game’s waning minutes to protect a one-goal lead.
“I knew I had to come out better in the third,” Coyle said. “I get away from things sometimes, and you can’t do that. I just tried to respond in the third there and get back to my game and make something happen.”
Coyle’s effort overshadowed a fine game from Suter, who scored twice, matching his entire goal output from last season.
Suter’s second goal came from in tight when he got his stick on a rebound.
Before Suter and Coyle scored 43 seconds apart, the Oilers took a brief 3-2 lead courtesy of Darnell Nurse, a nephew of former Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb, who scored the first goal of his promising career.
But the surprisingly comminatory Oilers failed to score with their goalie pulled for an extra attacker and fell to 3-7-0 on the season.
With the win, the Wild improved to 6-2-1 and 4-0-0 in St. Paul.
“We’re winning different ways,” Yeo said. “We’re not perfect, but I think every game there’s been something different.”
The Wild built a 2-0 lead in the first period, but that lasted only 99 seconds, foiled by an offensive zone penalty that led to a goal before the Wild touched the puck again.
Vanek’s infraction was about to lead to an Oilers power play, but before that could begin, Taylor Hall (2010’s No. 1 overall draft pick) deposited the puck into the back of the net off feeds from Nail Yakupov (2012’s No. 1 overall pick) and Connor McDavid (2015’s No. 1 overall pick).
Early in the second period, Hall assisted on Edmonton’s equalizer, and, in response, Coyle was slotted to the fourth line.
But with a chance to redeem himself in the third period, Coyle scored the game’s biggest goal, lifting the Wild to a win in a game in which their forecheck was almost nonexistent for stretches of the second period.
“It was a good result,” Coyle said. “It’s nice to be rewarded when you do it, but I’ve got to do it more consistently and not get away from it like I did at the start of the game.”
Follow Chad Graff at twitter.com/ChadGraff.
