The Minnesota Wild got back on the ice again after a nice 3-0 win vs Vegas on Monday night and it was against the Vancouver Canucks and former Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau,* who seems to have righted the ship in Vancouver since he took over as their head coach on December 6th. They were 23-11-6 since then and were also just 3 points back of the last playoff spot before tonight’s game so they’re a scrappy bunch who are battling to get into the dance.
*Also having a Wild reunion is former Wild D Brad Hunt. There’s also Minnesota native Brock Boeser.

So…this wasn’t an easy battle for 2 points.

Here’s how the teams lined up:

Minnesota Wild

Vancouver Canucks

Game Recap

Moose dropped the mitts with Vancouver D Luke Schenn less than a minute into the game and they were both throwing punch after punch before Marcus Foligno fell down to end the fight. It looked like Foligno asked Schenn if he wanted to go so Moose was trying to set the tone in this game to get his team going early.

The Wild had a good forecheck going early but the Canucks were blocking everything and on a Wild rush 4 minutes in, F Ryan Hartman took a shot from the left point that was blocked by Vancouver D Tyler Myers and it created a 3-on-1 as the puck came off Myers’ shin pad and Wild D Jared Spurgeon had pinched to join the play. That left new Wild D Jacob Middleton to try to defend the odd-man rush. He did a decent job but let a pass get across for a one-timer but Wild G Cam Talbot got across to make the save on Minnesota-native F Brock Boeser. The puck deflected to the left corner where Canucks D Oliver Ekman-Larsson tried to wrap it around the boards to Boeser behind the net but Middleton was there to break it up but the puck deflected off his stick blade to the left slot where Vancouver F Bo Horvat and he shot it into the upper right corner to put the Canucks up 1-0 early in the 1st period.

The Wild had yet to register a shot but it took just under 4 minutes later to do just that and they had their aggressive forecheck going, too.

That aggressive forecheck forced a turnover when Vancouver D Tyler Myers passed the puck back to his defensive partner Oliver Ekman-Larsson but he may not have been ready for it &/or it was a bad pass in his feet so he allowed the puck to go through his feet then he turned to skate to it and may have forgotten that Mats Zuccarello was in the middle of the zone. Zuccy got on his horse in pursuit and lifted Ekman-Larsson’s stick to create a loose puck to the right of the net. Kirill Kaprizov was there to take the puck and he faked like he was turning towards the right half-wall then went behind the net around to the left half-wall and sent it back towards the left corner to Ryan Hartman. Tyler Myers was in pursuit of Kaprizov but let him go when he passed the puck so he could follow the puck and try to get it from Hartman.

Kaprizov kept skating toward the center of the blue line. Jonas Brodin skated toward the net so he and Kaprizov wouldn’t occupy the same ice and also so the defender would have to defend him. That left time & space for Kaprizov to get a pass from Hartman and to skate into a wrist shot that went off the top of Canucks G Thatcher Demko’s catcher glove and into the upper right corner to tie the game at 1-1.

so…that first shot on goal was a good one. 1-for-1.

There were after the whistle scrums consistently then an official called Wild F Jordan Greenway & Canucks D Oliver Ekman-Larsson for roughing with 34 seconds remaining in the 1st period so it was 4-on-4 hockey and Kevin Fiala, who was flying around all period, took the puck through the neutral zone with speed, passed to his center Frédérick Gaudreau at the right boards just inside the offensive zone and Gaudreau gave it back to him as Fiala was skating by the Vancouver team but he just couldn’t handle the puck and it deflected to the right and Canucks G Thatcher Demko was able to make the save.

The Wild were outshot 10-8 in the 1st period.

Wild F Jordan Greenway came out of the penalty box and immediately got a scoring chance off a feed from Ryan Hartman and a good shot on net that forced a faceoff to the right of Canucks G Thatcher Demko. Greenway may have been heading for the bench then saw a chance to make a play as Hartman gained possession of the puck.

The next faceoff was won by the Wild which led to a quick shot from Kevin Fiala that Demko saved to force another faceoff in the same spot. On this faceoff, it looks like Vancouver wins it but it also looks like their center won it back towards his own net which forced Demko to make a quick save off his left pad that created a rebound. Kevin Fiala went right to the net and got the puck on his backhand so he protected it and made a turnaround shot on his forehand that beat Demko to put the Wild up 2-1.

It’s hard to tell if the puck goes off of Vancouver D Luke Schenn’s right leg or not but you have to wonder if Kevin Fiala made that move because he saw or knew the defenseman was coming towards him quickly or just so he could shoot it off his forehand for a stronger shot. He had already attempted about 3 shots that way in the game.

A little less than 7 minutes later, the Wild scored on a delayed penalty but the Canucks challenged that the play was offsides so the goal was disallowed. Kirill Kaprizov entered the zone as Ryan Hartman was passing the puck to him but it was deflected to make him offsides. That’s too bad. Jonny Merrill would’ve had his 5th goal of the season.

Wow! So close! A deflection may have changed this game

Phantom High-Sticking penalty** as Canucks D Quinn Hughes showed his acting skills and the official falls for it. Did Mats Zuccarello’s stick hit his visor? Hughes reacted late (?) Ryan Hartman did not like Hughes’ acting, though and he went to give him a piece of his mind so Vancouver G Thatcher Demko came out of the net to greet Hartman and Hartman shoved the goalie before the whistle was finally blown to make the penalty call.
**See our Game Notes section at the bottom of this article for more on this topic.

The Canucks then tie the game 5 seconds later right off the faceoff as Vancouver F J.T. Miller took a shot from the left point as Wild G Cam Talbot was being screened so he saw the puck too late to make the save & we had a 2-2 game!

A minute or so later, Vancouver captain Bo Horvat was still angered by Ryan Hartman’s actions so both players were exchanging slashes and shoves then Hartman kind of knocked Horvat down and he retaliated with a cross-check to the ribs and got a visit to the penalty box for it.

Did the Wild capitalize on it and re-take the lead?

Nope…how ‘bout some momentum from it?

For the most part, yes, as the Wild dominated for the rest of regulation but they couldn’t get one past Demko.

Jost got a shift with Ek & Foligno and almost scored as his shot went off Demko and just wide.

OVERTIME…

The Canucks won the opening faceoff of overtime and Elias Pettersson took the puck into the offensive zone then curled back to the blue line and tried to pass the puck to either Hughes or Miller but they collided and Kirill Kaprizov almost intercepted the pass and probably would’ve had a breakaway but Miller poked it away. Quinn Hughes got to the puck first and dropped the puck back to Miller for a shot and he hit the right post. PING!

Hughes then tried to pass it to Pettersson in the right slot but Kaprizov got his stick on it to create a loose puck. Pettersson ended up getting the puck back and skated towards the right corner but fell down. He tried to keep possession of the puck while he was down & keep it from Kaprizov & Jonas Brodin but Brodin pried it loose then skated behind his own net. Once Ek saw Brodin get the puck, he took off towards the Canucks net. Kaprizov had a couple of steps on Pettersson & Hughes didn’t bother to pressure Brodin which allowed Brodin to hit Kaprizov at the Wild blue line and he quickly hit Joel Eriksson Ek for a breakaway and he deked to his backhand then went back to his forehand and was able to get the puck past the outstretched leg of Thatcher Demko for the…

GAME-WINNING GOAL!!!

EK YEAH!!!

WOW!!! What A Game!!! The Wild overcame a little adversity to come out with yet another 2 points and regained 2nd place in the Central Division!

FINAL SCORE

Vancouver Canucks 2 | 3 Minnesota Wild

Goals:

MN: Kirill Kaprizov(33), Kevin Fiala(21), Joel Eriksson Ek(19)
VAN: Bo Horvat(25), J.T. Miller(27-PPG)

Assists:

MN: Ryan Hartman(22), Mats Zuccarello(44); Unassisted; Kirill Kaprizov(45), Jonas Brodin(20)
VAN: Oliver Ekman-Larsson(14), Brock Boeser(19); Quinn Hughes(47), Elias Pettersson(27)

Goalies:

MN: Cam Talbot – 26 Saves on 28 Shots on Goal – .929 Save % – 26th Win
VAN: Thatcher Demko – 33 Saves on 36 Shots – .917 Save % – 27-20-4 (W-L-OTL)

Game Notes

*Aggressive Penalty Kill & Good Sticks

The Wild changed their penalty kill to a more aggressive system and they’ve turned it around after a terrible run where they gave up a Power Play Goal in something like 16 out of 17 games.

It’s about quickly taking away time & space, having a good stick in the passing lanes and looking for opportunities to pounce when there’s a loose puck or a player is on their backhand. Marcus Foligno made a handful of great plays on the Penalty Kill tonight with a good stick.

Yes, they gave up a Power Play goal tonight, too, but they killed off the first 2 and we also think part of that terrible run was due to confidence and being very detailed on the penalty kill.

We’ll see if they can keep the PK turnaround going on their next kill which is hopefully not sooner than later.

**Adversity

Responding to adversity instead of letting it bring your game down & costing you more than whatever already happened is a total gamechanger. The penalty call for high-sticking had the Wild angered then it got worse when the Canucks were able to tie the game almost instantly on the Power Play.

The Canucks may have let adversity doom them as Ryan Hartman drew a penalty on a stupid cross-checking penalty from Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat. Did it feel good to get a good shot in on Hartman? Maybe but did it give the Wild the momentum that may have propelled them to the victory?

It definitely looked like it did.

A captain needs to lead by example and not make the stupid mistake of letting someone get in their head. Is that not exactly what Ryan Hartman was trying to do?

***Physicality, Size & Toughness

That is a great combination in hockey. The Wild added all 3 of them at the Trade Deadline with F Nicolas Deslauriers & D Jacob Middleton. It also makes the rest of the team follow suit because, like playing with confidence, being aggressive & winning battles, it makes the whole team be a little more physical and play through everything.

The Wild outhit the Canucks 31-22 tonight with both Marcus Foligno & Nicolas Deslauriers having 7 hits each, Joel Eriksson Ek had 4, Matt Dumba had 3 and Middleton & Zuccarello had 2.

If you remember Cal Clutterbuck, the reason for the name of this blog, you know how much he affected the game with the way he played and threw hits.

That’s what we mean by Bringing The Clutter!!!

🏒–– CP ––🏒

Next up: 

The Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at 7pm on Bally Sports North and G Marc-Andre Fleury will be starting in the cage for his Minnesota Wild debut.

Cam Talbot will start on Sunday at 5pm against the Colorado Avalanche.

Thanks for reading!!! Bring the Clutter in the comments &/or on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn…

AND…as always…