ST. PAUL, Minn. _ The Wild have never been here before, facing the foreseeable future without defenseman Ryan Suter.
Ever since he signed on for 13 years, at the price tag of $98 million, Suter has served the Wild for all but five games and none of those absences were due to injury. He had the mumps, was suspended and held out of a meaningless game before the playoffs.
His reliability is as much his calling card as the way he patrols the defensive zone or funnels the puck up ice to generate offense.
But with Suter unavailable the rest of the way, sidelined for the season after requiring surgery to fix a right ankle fracture, the Wild will have to adjust to life sans their No. 1 blue liner.
And the post-Suter era got off to a solid start Monday, as the Wild shut out the Oilers 3-0 in front of 19,189 at Xcel Energy Center during their final home game of the regular season _ a performance that pushed the team to the brink of clinching a playoff spot at 98 points.
If the Avalanche lost to the Kings late Monday night, the Wild would have wrapped up the third seed in the Central Division and solidified a first-round matchup against the Jets.
But before the Wild could scoreboard watch, they had to take care of their own business. And they did, with goalie Devan Dubnyk posting 22 saves for his fifth shutout of the season and winger Zach Parise _ who joined the Wild in 2012 at the same time as Suter via an identical contract _ supplying the bulk of the offense.
The first came just 3 minutes, 33 seconds after puck drop when Parise capitalized on a breakaway by going five-hole on Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot.
It was the first time in seven games the Wild have scored first, and the goal highlight an overall strong debut for the Wild.
But the Wild waned in the second while the Oilers piled up looks on Dubnyk. They didn't register their first shot on goal until more than eight minutes elapsed, but it helped spark Parise's second goal. Defenseman Jonas Brodin put the puck on net after accepting a pass from captain Mikko Koivu, and Parise was in front of the net to bury the rebound at 8:24. Talbot ended up with 37 saves.
Parise now ranks fifth on the Wild in goals with 15 despite missing the first 39 games of the season after undergoing back surgery to fix a herniated disc that caused leg pain and weakness. He's in the midst of a season-high seven-game point streak and has 24 in 40 games. The Wild improved to 24-9-7 with him in the lineup.
After the goal, the Wild had no problem holding off the Oilers; they outshot Edmonton 21-3 in the third, and center Joel Eriksson Ek scored into an empty net with 44 seconds to go.
The methodical way the game played out seemed like a feel-good beginning for the Wild's new look on the back end.
Matt Dumba and Brodin managed to prevent Oilers captain Connor McDavid from growing his lead for the most points in the NHL, and Carson Soucy logged 15:26 in an NHL debut that included him drawing the Wild's only power play. The Wild blanked on that chance and one more while snuffing out two power-play chances for Edmonton.
Overall, the Wild finished with 62 points on home ice _ the second-best showing in franchise history.
