The first game of a road trip, especially heading West, is arguably the most important one. The Minnesota Wild were forced to start this trip against arguably the most talented two forwards in the NHL, with McDavid and Draisaitl both at the top of NHL scoring totals. Edmonton also came into the night with something to prove after getting dominated by Los Angeles on Sunday. If the Wild were going to win, they would need to shut down the Edmonton stars without sacrificing their lethal offense.
After three whistles in the first 18 seconds, Nico Sturm won a footrace in the offensive zone and was taken out by Evan Bouchard.