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EDMONTON -- There was plenty of post-Olympic rust to go around, but none seemed to stick to Darcy Kuemper in the Minnesota Wilds net. Kuemper made 21 saves to earn his second career shutout as Minnesota returned from the Olympic break on a winning note, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Thursday night. "We did a real good job, we were aware of the situation and everyone was focused tonight," Kuemper said. "It was just a solid team game tonight. We had seven days of practice. You just use the first two practices to get the fundamentals back and then you worry about the next game. I stuck to my game and obviously the team played great in front of me." Mikael Granlund, Stephane Veilleux and Dany Heatley scored for the Wild (32-21-7) who won their third game in a row. "I think thats our biggest strength, to have a good defensive game," Granlund said. "I thought we played good defensively and Kemps had a good game in net. We didnt give them too much." Wild head coach Mike Yeo said his team played far from perfect, but they will take the win anyway. "I dont think that we played this game at the level that we headed into the break at and I think thats normal," he said. "I was impressed with the detail and the structure in a lot of areas, but I think our puck work can get a little better in some areas too." The Oilers (20-34-7) have lost two in a row after winning five of their previous six. "It was pretty embarrassing," said Edmonton forward David Perron. "Nothing was going right for us. We couldnt generate any offence and our defence wasnt good. It was an awful game." It was the fifth time this season that the Oilers have been shutout at home and eighth time this season they have failed to score in a game. "Thats not how we wanted to come back from the break at all. It seemed like there was a lot of rust on our team," said Oilers forward Taylor Hall. "Whether that was the break or whatever, it doesnt really matter. They had the same break that we did and we just didnt play well." Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins thought neither team really looked that good on their return to action following the long break. "That was an ugly hockey game, I thought for both teams," he said. "It was quite amazing watching this game the number of players falling down with nothing going on around them and passes going behind players. It was firmly two teams coming off of a long break." The game started with a bang as Oilers forward Matt Hendricks checked Wild defenceman Nate Prosser in to the boards in the first minute of play. Prosser was helped to the dressing room and did not return until the second period. Minnesota got revenge for the hit by taking a 1-0 lead a minute later as Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens was caught out of position as Zach Parise fed the puck in front to Granlund who had an empty net to put his teams first shot of the game into. Each team only accounted for six first period shots apiece, with Edmontons best chance coming late in the period when a high bounce flipped off of Kuempers back and landed in the crease before being sent to safety by Jared Spurgeon. Kuemper made a big save of his own seven minutes into the second as he was quick to come across and rob Jordan Eberle at the side of the net on the tail end of an Oiler power play. Minnesota made it 2-0 midway through the second period as Erik Huala fought off Oiler Anton Belov behind the net to send a backhand to a primed and ready Veilleux who blasted a one-timer from the top of the circle past Scrivens for just his second goal of the season. The Wild took a three-goal lead midway through the third as Charlie Coyle made a nice play to swing out from behind the net and find Heatley in front, who lifted his 12th of the season over a sprawling Scrivens. Notes: Both teams saw some success before the pause in the NHL schedule as the Oilers were 5-1-1 in their previous seven games, while the Wild were 4-1-2 in their last seven. Edmonton only allowed 12 goals during that seven-game stretcha The Wild have had a great deal of success against Edmonton in recent years, coming into the game having won five of six and 14 of its last 17 versus the Oilers, including seven of their last eight appearances in Edmontona Minnesota forward Mikko Koivu is reportedly close to returning but remained out with an ankle injury for Thursdays gamea Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom returned from an abdominal injury dating back to Jan. 30, but served as the backup to Kuempera It was Edmontons only home game in all of February. The Oilers last home date was on Jan. 29 when Scrivens set an NHL record for most saves in a shutout with 59 in a 3-0 victory over the San Jose Sharksa Oiler forward Nail Yakupov took a shot to the right ankle from teammate Justin Schultz in the third and did not return. Nike React Australia . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt and listen on TSN 690. The Canadiens have won three in a row and four of their last five games and recently put the finishing touches on a 3-1-0 road trip. Wholesale Nike React . Fielder ended 4-for-5 with a solo homer, while Avila was 4-for-4 with two runs scored for the Tigers, who put the brakes on a three-game skid and rebounded from a loss in Mondays opener. Victor Martinez and Austin Jackson both contributed two hits, an RBI and a run scored as Detroit maintained its healthy lead atop the AL Central. http://www.wholesalenikereactaustralia.com/. He looked very comfortable Wednesday night. Konerko had a big three-run double and Gordon Beckham homered for the second straight game, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 8-3 victory over the sliding Chicago Cubs. Nike React Womens Australia . Its the games against the leagues struggling franchises that have proved to be an issue. Cheap Nike React Shoes . Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia will have surgery on his left shoulder this week and is expected to miss the rest of the season.CLEVELAND -- Its easy to see why the Cleveland Indians get a positive vibe whenever Corey Kluber takes the mound. "Klubes has pitched to the point where, heck yeah, you better play with confidence," manager Terry Francona said. "Hes one of the best pitchers in the league." Kluber (12-6) continued his dominant stretch by allowing one run over 7 1-3 innings in Monday nights 7-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Kluber, who hasnt lost since June 30, held the Reds to six hits, struck out seven and walked two in winning his fifth straight decision. "I started out not so great with my command, but I was able to reel it in and had better command in the middle of the game," he said. The only bad news came in the eighth when Klubers 17-inning scoreless streak ended on Brayan Penas RBI double off reliever Nick Hagadone. That also ended the right-handers stretch of not allowing an earned run at 25 innings. Jay Bruce started the eighth with a single. After Todd Frazier struck out, Devin Mesoracos single ended Klubers night after 110 pitches. Francona pulled Kluber, who received a standing ovation from the 18,696 fans. The crowd groaned when Penas hit pushed a run across the plate. "Every starter wants to go deep into the game, but in that situation when it was still close, and my pitch count was up," Kluber said. "I understand." Lonnie Chisenhall hit a three-run homer in the fourth off Alfredo Simon (12-7). Yan Gomes hit a two-run homer in the eighth as Cleveland won its fourth straight. The series between the intrastate rivals features teams trying to remain in playoff contention. The win lifted the Indians (57-55) two games over .500 for the first time since July 22. The Reds are 5-12 since the All-Star break and fell to .500 (56-56). Kluber stopped Seattle on a three-hitter Wednesday and took a perfect game into the seventh inning against Kansas City on July 24 in his previous start, with the Royalls scoring an unearned run in the eighth.dddddddddddd Klubers only loss in his brilliant stretch came in a 1-0 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers. "You go through periods where you have things working and even when youre not at your best, youre still good," Francona said. "Thats kind of where Klubes is getting." Michael Brantley added an RBI groundout in the first inning and a run-scoring single in the fifth. John Axford pitched the final 1 2-3 innings for his 10th save. REDS IMPRESSED Cincinnati manager Bryan Price praised Klubers performance. "As advertised," Price said. "I know hes a tremendous pitcher, we all knew that coming in. He did the things that we knew about. Hes very good." TESTING Centre fielder Michael Bourn will begin a minor league rehab assignment at Double-A Akron on Tuesday. He hasnt played since July 5 because of a recurring left hamstring injury. TRAINERS ROOM Reds: Second baseman Brandon Phillips is travelling with the team as he continues to rehab from a torn ligament in his left thumb. Price said Phillips, who hasnt played since July 9, still cant swing a bat. Indians: Designated hitter Nick Swisher is optimistic his strained right wrist wont sideline him for more than a couple of days. "Ive been through stuff like this before," he said. "Its just a little tight." He injured the wrist in his last at-bat Sunday against Texas Yu Darvish. ON DECK Reds: All-Star right-hander Johnny Cueto (12-6) will start Tuesday. He leads the NL in innings pitched (162 2-3) and opponents batting average (.183) and is second in ERA (2.05) and strikeouts (186). Cueto is 3-0 in five career starts against Cleveland. Indians: Right-hander Josh Tomlin (5-7) will be called up from Triple-A Columbus to start Tuesday. He was sent to the minors on July 26. Tomlin hasnt won since pitching a one-hitter on June 28. Hes 1-1 in three career appearances against Cincinnati. ' ' '