Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin deflects a shot from the Minnesota Wild during first period NHL hockey action in Edmonton on Thursday, October 20, 2011.John Ulan/The Canadian Press
Matt Cullen scored the shootout winner as the Minnesota Wild shocked the Edmonton Oilers with a 2-1 comeback victory on Thursday night.
Dany Heatley tied the game with two seconds left in regulation for the Wild (3-2-2), who continue to dominate the Oilers having won nine in a row over Edmonton.
With Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom pulled, Heatley put a shot under the arm of Edmonton starter Nikolai Khabibulin to force overtime.
Ryan Jones scored the lone goal for the Oilers (2-2-2), who have lost four of their last five games.
Both goalies finished with 30 saves.
The Oilers had the best chance early on as Taylor Hall made a pass through to a hard-charging Jordan Eberle, who couldn't get a handle on the puck before crashing into the Minnesota net.
Four minutes later Ryan Smyth intercepted an errant Greg Zanon pass in the Wild zone and fed it in front to Jones who had an easy tap-in.
Cullen had the Wild's best opportunity midway through the second when he split the defence and saw an opening five-hole. Khabibulin, however, slammed his pads shut to make the save and keep the Oilers ahead.
Edmonton missed out on another chance to make it a two-goal game with five minutes left in the second as Belanger got a partial short-handed breakaway, but hit the crossbar.
The shots were a pretty tight 18-17 favouring the Oilers after 40 minutes.
The Wild kept the pressure on in the third period but Khabibulin stood tall for the majority of the period, notably making a key kick save on Heatley with three minutes left.
Both teams return to the ice on Thursday as the Wild are in Vancouver and the Oilers play host to the New York Rangers.
Notes: The only previous meeting between the two teams this season was a 2-1 shootout win for the Wild. ... Edmonton had forward Taylor Hall back in the lineup after missing Tuesday's game with the flu. ... Edmonton forward Sam Gagner has been cleared to play his first regular season game and will likely play for the team on Thursday. ... Minnesota was without defenseman Mike Lundin and forward Cody Almond, both sidelined with back issues. ... The Wild's top line of Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi were back together after the coaches opted to try Pierre-Marc Bouchard in Setoguchi's place for their last game. ... Bouchard came into the contest with 38 points in 39 career games against the Oilers.