What the Wild lack.

Nick Schultz pinched to complete a great forecheck, Eric Belanger cleaned up the turnover, and Kyle Brodziak as he glided toward the net. He scanned his options before lifting his stick, lining up his shot, and then mimicking the shot to put it past the sprawling defender. A good idea, but the Oiler caught a piece of the puck, which squirted to Marek Zidlicky, who passed to Belanger. Eric shot, where Benoit Pouliot was waiting to put it home.

Later in the match, Benoit Pouliot had the puck on the Edmonton goal line. He gave it to Owen Nolan behind the net, who then fed a netward Pouliot, who merely backhanded it into the pads of Khabibulin.

There's been plenty of talk about the amount of shots the Wild take and allow. Those numbers work to the Wild's favor. They are fourth in the NHL in shots on goal. They are ninth in the NHL in shots on goal allowed. As the terrible TV announcers keep repeating, it's the quality.

On the first goal of the game, not far into the second period, a loose puck trickled vertically away from the Wild net, before Mike Comrie gained possession before quickly passing to Robert Nilsson, who fed the unchecked Comrie for the open-netter netted easily by the Oiler.

The Wild have played well in spurts, maintaining their on-again, off-again relationship with maintaining offensive pressure. They forecheck aggressively, forcing the other team into turnovers, on which the Wild have yet to consistently capitalize, as many of their players tend to glide and watch the play unfold.

As they did on Edmonton's second goal. Patrick O'Sullivan robbed Derek "Not A Real Hockey Player" Boogard in the Wild zone. As Danny Boy looped behind the Wild net, Brent Burns weakly checked him and kept on him while Nathan Smith followed him as well. They both turned their backs on Dustin Penner, who was about as wide open as you can be, fifteen feet away from the net. Irish didn't miss him, and he didn't miss the opening left as Josh Harding moved all the way from the other post.

The Wild outshot the Oilers 31-19. The first thing that stands out about the game tonight is how cool the Edmonton goals were. Three of the five were "alley-oops," passes hitting the scorer's stick in stride, setting up an easily converted scoring chance. Beautiful goals draw additional fans to hockey, and these were beautiful goals. The Wild score their pair with some grit, but when an offense is really clicking, or the defense is standing around oo-ing and aw-ing, those "alley-oops" will happen. How many of those have the Wild scored this season? None that I can remember.

Pouliot's goal is a great example of what Todd Richards' forechecking system can do, but Brodziak's failed deek is an example of how little skill the Wild work with on a nightly business. They need more playmaking ability. Not just passing ability, but to do the little deeks and moves that turn Pouliot's backhand into the hesitations that Corey Perry used to beat Backstrom in Anaheim. That turn Brodziak's flailing faked shot into the snapshot Dany Heatley used on the power-play in San Jose.

The Wild's injured players will return, bringing some more skill back to the line-up. Until then, grit will have to do. Translating it to the defensive end wouldn't hurt either.