(My Sportsbook) - A pair of Northwest Division rivals will face off for the first time this season tonight at the Xcel Energy Center, where the defending division champion Minnesota Wild host an Edmonton Oilers club shooting for its third straight victory.

Both teams enter tonight's clash in a three-way tie for third place in the Northwest, 11 points behind front-running Calgary. The Oilers come in as the hotter of the two squads, having won four of their last six contests and starting off a three-game road trip with Tuesday's 5-2 decision over Southeast Division-leading Washington.

Erik Cole notched his first hat trick as an Oiler to back a solid effort between the pipes from Dwayne Roloson, who turned back 34-of-36 shots on the evening.

Gilbert Brule and Steve MacIntyre also recorded goals for Edmonton, with Brule adding an assist to the winning effort.

The Oilers, who wrap up their trek at Colorado on Friday, sport a 12-10-0 record as the visitor so far this year.

Minnesota also posted in a win its last time out, a 6-3 triumph over Phoenix at the Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday. Mikko Koivu, Owen Nolan, Andrew Brunette and Cal Clutterbuck each had a goal and an assist to help the Wild halt a two- game slide.

Wild defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron also lit the lamp in his first game back from a lower body injury that caused him to miss 10 straight games.

Minnesota will be playing the second test of a three-game homestand tonight and is 12-7-3 as the host this season. The Wild will conclude the residency against Anaheim on Saturday.

The Wild won five of eight encounters with the Oilers a season ago, including all four meetings held at the Xcel Energy Center. Edmonton has lost seven straight times (0-6-1) in Minnesota and has recorded a mere nine goals over that span.

Backstrom owns a 9-0-0 record and a 1.64 goals against average over 11 career starts against the Oilers. The All-Star netminder has shut out Edmonton three times in seven lifetime meetings in Minnesota.