EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Minnesota Wild issued a rather convincing statement Tuesday in the form of a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

In a clash between two of the hottest teams in the NHL, the Wild cooled the Oilers off in a hurry, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the game was 25 minutes old and then beating back a couple of comeback attempts before putting the home team away for good.

Tyler Graovac scored twice, and Jason Zucker, Zach Parise and Chris Stewart added singles as the Wild improved to 33-11-5 on the season, securing their hold on first place in the Central Division.

The Oilers (28-16-8) fell to third in the Pacific with the loss.

"We wanted to start this road trip off on the right foot here," Stewart said. "We have four big road games, and this was a hot team here. It was a good test, and we answered the bell."

Minnesota backup goalie Darcy Kuemper, starting so Devan Dubnyk could get some rest after flying in from Los Angeles following the All-Star Game, held up his end of the deal, stopping 41 of 43 shots and even chipping in an assist.

"He played great, I thought it was his best game of the year," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He controlled rebounds. That's been sort of a little bit of a problem in the past when he's had a rough night, but tonight he controlled them really well and caught pucks and settled things down for us when we needed them settled down."

Oilers coach Todd McLellan hadn't seen his team lose in regulation in eight games, but that didn't make this one any easier to swallow.

"It was catastrophic mistakes, often just by individuals, that really caused us problems," he said. "We were flat, we didn't execute well, we weren't good around the net. They were the better team. We got what we deserved."

The Oilers probably thought they had an edge without having to face Dubnyk, who has the best goals against and save percentage in the NHL, but they couldn't take advantage.

Instead, the Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Graovac scored at 13:09 of the first period and Zucker added another 3.6 seconds before the intermission.

The teams traded two goals each in the second period, with Parise and Graovac scoring for the Wild and Adam Larsson and Leon Draisaitl (on the power play) replying for the Oilers.

"Chipping in any way you can, whether it's faceoff or being good defensively or giving momentum to the next line, that's our job as the fourth line," said Graovac, who has six goals and no assists in 40 games. "That just helps everybody."

Oilers starter Cam Talbot got the hook after the fourth Minnesota goal. He made 15 saves.

"When you are giving up that many point-blank shots in front of the net, I don't care what team you are playing or who you have in net, you are not going to win hockey games," Oilers winger Milan Lucic said. "You can add up the distance from the net of all their goals put together, and I don't think it goes from the goal line to the blue line. That's not on the goaltender, that's the five-man unit in the D-zone, and that's where we weren't very good tonight.

"Against a team like this, one of the best in the league, if you do that, you are going to get this result."

The Oilers had a chance to make things interesting on an early power play in the third period but couldn't score. They fell behind 5-2 when Stewart stepped out of the penalty box and put one past backup goalie Laurent Brossoit (15 saves).

It was tough loss in a game the Oilers were using as a measuring stick.

"We played some really good hockey going into the break," Edmonton defenseman Oscar Klefbom said. "But these are the games where we have to be more consistent. We have to find a way to play better hockey than we did tonight. Even if we don't win the game, we have to find a way to play better. It was too easy for them, not good enough."

NOTES: Wild G Devan Dubnyk will start Wednesday when Minnesota plays Calgary in the second of back-to-back games. ... Oilers RW Jordan Eberle is three points away from passing Craig Simpson for 13th on the team's all-time scoring list. ... Edmonton D Oscar Klefbom doesn't have a single penalty minute in 52 games this season. ... RW Jujhar Khaira (wrist) skated by himself before Edmonton's practice Monday but won't be available for any of the club's next four games. ... With the All-Star break and collective-bargaining-agreement-mandated bye week, the Oilers are in a stretch where they play six games in 20 days. ... The Wild are 13-0-2 in their past 15 road games. ... Minnesota led the NHL with seven players with 30 points or more this season at the break. ... The Wild's 71 points represent the franchise's best total ever through 50 games.