The Minnesota Wild beat Canucks 4-2 on Sunday at Rogers Arena, scoring four straight goals before Vancouver answered late in the third period. Kirill Kaprizov scored a goal and added an assist for a team-high two points as Minnesota improved to 8-3-2.
Shabanov opened the scoring at 18:33 of the first period. Brink and Quinn Hughes added goals in the second to make it 3-0 before the third. Kaprizov extended the lead to 4-0 at 3:38 of the third before Max Sasson and Brock Boeser answered late. Leevi Merilainen stopped 30 of 34 shots for Vancouver, which fell to 2-10-1.
Key Moments And How It Was Won
Shabanov’s goal at 18:33 of the first, assisted by Kaprizov and Boldy, opened the scoring. Brink made it 2-0 at 5:54 of the second with help from Michael McCarron. Hughes’ snap shot at 12:55 pushed the lead to 3-0 heading into the third.
Kaprizov’s backhand at 3:38 of the third extended the Wild’s lead to 4-0. Sasson scored at 6:24, and Boeser added another at 16:53, but Vancouver could not complete the comeback.
Minnesota outshot Vancouver 34-17 and went 2 for 5 on the power play.
Vancouver went 0 for 1.s snap shot off assists from Kaprizov and Matt Boldy broke a scoreless tie late in the first period. Minnesota then pulled away in the second, getting a backhand goal from Brink at 5:54 and a Hughes snap shot at 12:55 that made it 3-0 by the second intermission.
Kaprizov extended the lead to 4-0 just 3:38 into the third on a backhand finish set up by Hughes, capping a sequence in which the Wild scored four unanswered goals across two periods. Vancouver finally got on the board when Sasson scored at 6:24, and Boeser added a power-play style snap shot goal at 16:53 to make it 4-2, but the Canucks ran out of time to complete the comeback.
Minnesota outshot Vancouver 34-17 for the game and converted two of five power-play chances, while the Canucks went 0 for 1 with the man advantage. The Wild also won the special teams and physical battles, finishing with 32 hits to Vancouver’s 20.
Top Performers
Kaprizov finished with a goal, an assist and a plus-1 rating in 21:53 of ice time. Hughes, playing on the Wild blue line, had a goal and an assist while logging a game-high 26:10 among Minnesota skaters. Joel Eriksson Ek won nine of 15 faceoffs and picked up an assist on the Hughes goal.
Wild goaltender Calvin Pickard made 15 saves on 17 shots for a .882 save percentage in the win. For Vancouver, Boeser and Filip Hronek each logged a goal or an assist, with Hronek adding a team-high 25:39 of ice time and five giveaways.
What It Means
Minnesota moved to 8-3-2 and sits atop the Central Division standings with 18 points, one point ahead of Utah. The Wild have now taken a 1-0 lead in the season series against Vancouver.
The Canucks dropped to 2-10-1, last in the Pacific Division with five points. Vancouver has lost 10 of its 13 games to open the season, and Sunday’s loss extended a difficult start at home in front of 17,560 fans at Rogers Arena.
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