The Minnesota Wild were looking for 3-in-a-row against the Vancouver Canucks last night, against any opponent and over the Canucks for the season series. The Wild beat the Canucks 3-2 in Vancouver in the 6th game of the season then beat them 3 days shy of a month ago in Overtime at The X.
This is a HUGE game. The Vancouver Canucks were pushing for a playoff spot. They were 4 points back of the Dallas Stars and they also had just 5 games remaining in the regular season.
The game was important to the Wild, too. Even though they had already clinched a spot in The Stanley Cup Dance, home-ice advantage over their likely opponent, the St. Louis Blues, was still attainable.
This game was also the return of former Minnesota Wild head coach, the one & only Bruce Boudreau. “BRUCE, THERE IT IS!”
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
D Jon Merrill makes his return & he’s reunited with his defensive partner, D Dmitry Kulikov.
F Jordan Greenway & D Matt Dumba skated on their own & with the team in the morning but still aren’t ready to return to action.
Vancouver Canucks
Game Recap
The Wild had a lot of energy wary but Vancouver weathered that storm and got to their game.
With 1:18 remaining in the 1st period, Vancouver Canucks F Matthew Highmore took an interference penalty when he chopped across Kaprizov’s stick. He hit his skate which made him fall down. Kaprizov had already passed the puck so a trademark interference call but Highmore doesn’t understand the call. You can see him saying, “I didn’t do anything.” & “I don’t effin’ get it.”
On the ensuing faceoff, Wild F Kirill Kaprizov got his stick up high trying to get around Canucks F Brad Richardson and accidentally put his stick across Richardson’s face for a high-sticking penalty that drew blood for a double-minor that bled into the 2nd period, too. That pun was intended.
4:53 into the 2nd period, Wild F Kevin Fiala started a breakout in his own zone with a pass to Matt Boldy going up the right boards. He got the puck back just outside the middle of the blue line. With Canucks D Tyler Myers closing on him as the puck got to him, he just tipped it a little bit to keep it going past him to Frédérick Gaudreau. Tyler Myers was calling for offsides* as he turned to chase the puck. D Jacob Middleton drove the net and that left Kevin Fiala wide open for a one-timer for his 31st goal of the season and a 1-0 Wild lead.
*Or maybe his teammates to help out! HEY! It’s a 3-on-1!
Is this the cover of the Vancouver Film Session, tomorrow?
The Canucks responded 37 seconds later as the Wild did a little puck-chasing of their own which left Canucks F Elias Pettersson open for a one-timer in the slot off a feed from Conor Garland that looks like a blind pass. He knew where Pettersson was going to be but it looks like he passed it while looking at the puck. 1-1 Tie
See what Wild Head Coach thinks about this goal 21 seconds in. Not happy.
99 seconds later, the Minnesota Wild regained their 1-goal lead on Captain D Jared Spurgeon’s 10th goal of the season as he hit the upper right corner while Canucks G Thatcher Demko was being screened by Kevin Fiala and his own defenseman Tyler Myers.
Spurgeon then mishandled a puck just inside his own blue line and Vancouver F Matthew Highmore picked up the loose puck, went in alone and scored 2:12 later over Wild G Cam Talbot’s blocker and the was Tied once again.
After no goals in the 1st period, we had 4 goals in 4 minutes & 29 seconds. That’s how gray hair happens.
Just shy of 7 minutes later, Canucks F Conor Garland got the puck at the right boards which forced Wild D Jonas Brodin to pursue him. Pettersson had a step on Wild D Dmitry Kulikov and drove the net. Garland was able to get a shot off but it went off of Brodin’s stick which may have helped create a rebound that Pettersson put into the net. It’s hard to tell what happened here other than the Wild having some bad coverage through the neutral zone with Matt Boldy in the middle then coasting on the backcheck as was within reach of Garland but really made no difference in the play.
Coasting is never a good sign for a backchecker.
Wild F Kirill Kaprizov and Canucks D Luke Schenn had a “shift-long battle” and the next time Schenn was on the ice, Wild F Nicolas Deslauriers was sent out on the ice. They “talked” before the faceoff. Vancouver won the faceoff back to Schenn. Deslauriers forechecked him, threw a body check and the gloves hit the ice. It wasn’t much of a fight as they were in close for most of it but Schenn got some uppercuts in then they separated a little and Deslauriers got a couple of good ones in before the linesmen stepped in.
What a tilt between Nic Deslauriers and Luke Schenn, two big time heavyweights, love a fired up Deslauriers!! #mnwild 🥊 pic.twitter.com/dC8J4rnUV4
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) April 22, 2022
Deslaureiers screamed “LET’S GOOOO!!!” as he left the ice.
The Wild tied the game 95 seconds later as Kirill Kaprizov left the puck for Mats Zuccarello to pick up and he took a shot that went off then under Vancouver G Thatcher Demko’s catcher glove, the 7-hole, and it was a 3-3 Game!
Did Conor Garland screen his goaltender? Hard to tell.
So…a HUGE 3rd period will start to decide the fate of Vancouver’s season & where the Wild begin the playoffs.***
***See more on this topic in our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.
The reigning NHL 2nd Star of the Week, Wild F Kevin Fiala, would likely have something to say about how this game was going to end.
Just shy of 3 minutes into the 3rd period, the Canucks got a Too Many Canucks on the Ice penalty as they had 6 players on the ice for quite a while. The Wild couldn’t make them pay on the Power Play, though.
With 11:45 remaining, Canucks D Tyler Myers got his stick up high on Kevin Fiala. There was a whistle but it didn’t come from either of the officials so confusion was happening as to why there was a whistle and why there wasn’t a penalty being called. The linesmen and the officials gathered and the penalty was called to the dismay of Bruce Boudreau and Tyler Myers. Again, though, the Wild didn’t capitalize on the Power Play.
With 9:51 remaining, Wild F Frédérick Gaudreau had the puck at the right half-wall and took a shot that went into the chest of Canucks G Thatcher Demko. Wild F Ryan Hartman saw the loose puck so he took a couple hacks at it while Demko was trying to corral it. The whistle blew and Canucks D Oliver Ekman-Larsson shoved Hartman for touching his goalie so they both got matching roughing penalties. Hartman either let go of his stick or could no longer hold on to it as it was stuck with Demko. The Vancouver goalie tossed it into the corner.
demko loves taking opponents sticks and yeeting them 😭 pic.twitter.com/fRIH8nj8dT
— clarissa! (@quinnsedgework) April 22, 2022
7:53 left in regulation: Kevin Fiala had the puck at the top of the right circle and was skating back toward the blue line. He passed it to Jonas Brodin at the left half-wall. Brodin surveyed the ice then gave it back to Fiala as he was coming around the left point. He then took the puck around the Vancouver net. Former Wild, now Canucks D Brad Hunt pursued him while the rest of the Canucks watched him. Fiala came around the other side of the net and shot it short side past Demko for a 4-3 Wild lead. Hunt tried to get a piece of his shot. It’s hard to tell if he did and if that had an effect on the shot.
The Wild had their forecheck working and Mats Zuccarello had 2 Canucks defending him in the left corner. Ryan Hartman retrieved the puck and headed towards the net then fed Kirill Kaprizov for a quick low shot that beat Thatcher Demko under his right pad with 1:55 remaining in regulation.
Tiny Zuccarello beat 2 Canucks in a battle on the wall.
A 2-goal lead meant the Canuckleheads pretty much had to pull their goalie ASAP to get an advantage to have any chance in this game and in their battle to make the playoffs.
The goalie was pulled at 1:40. The Wild got an empty-netter 27 seconds later to make it 6-3 and that was the game!
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Final
Vancouver Canucks 3 | 6 Minnesota Wild
Goals
MN: Kevin Fiala(31), Jared Spurgeon(10), Mats Zuccarello(23), Kevin Fiala(32), Kirill Kaprizov(44), Ryan Hartman(32)
VAN: Elias Pettersson(30), Matthew Highmore(5), Elias Pettersson(31)
Assists
MN: Frédérick Gaudreau(28), Matt Boldy(21); Brandon Duhaime(11), Jacob Middleton(9); Kirill Kaprizov(52), Jon Merrill(15); Jonas Brodin(25), Frédérick Gaudreau(29); Ryan Hartman(29), Mats Zuccarello(54); Kirill Kaprizov(53), Mats Zuccarello(55)
VAN: Conor Garland(28), Brock Boeser(23); Unassisted; Conor Garland(29), Travis Dermott(5)
Goalies
MN: Cam Talbot – 21 Saves on 24 Shots on Goal – .875 Save% – 31st Win – 200th Career NHL Victory
Tonight’s win was the 200th of Cam Talbot’s career. He’s the 94th goaltender in NHL history to reach the milestone. Congrats Cam!
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) April 22, 2022
VAN: Thatcher Demko – 26 Saves on 31 Shots on Goal – .839 Save% – 21st Loss
Game Notes
*
When is a penalty actually a penalty and when is it not a penalty?
Minnesota Wild D Jonas Brodin was hooked as he came around his own net and it made him fall down and the Vancouver player let go of his stick as it remained in Brodin’s midsection but there was no call. I believe it was during 4-on-4 play so…how does that work?
They can’t call everything but it’s strange there was no call there. How is that not called? Is it because it didn’t really change the play? Brodin was still able to pass the puck where he wanted to pass it.
Do the coaches get an explanation for it?
What if the officials had to do a postgame press conference to answer questions about how their calls/no-calls? How interesting would that be? How long would those press conferences last?
No More Questions!
**
Do former coaches talk with the GMs that fired them when they return with another team?
Bruce Boudreau wasn’t a happy camper when Minnesota Wild General Manager fired him on Valentine’s Day in the year 2020. He returned to face the Wild for the first time last night so is everything okay, now? Do they talk to each other? Does Bruce understand now why Bill did what he did, especially since the Wild have been very good since then?
We would think yes and Bruce is a guy who loves hockey and he also loved Minnesota so maybe he also would like to keep his options open for a return in another capacity once he feels he doesn’t want to coach anymore because it’s still hockey so we assume it doesn’t feel like a job to do what they do.
Also, it might be another way to get his name on The Cup.
“Ok, Google*, whose names go on the Stanley Cup?”
*Siri gave me the wrong answer.
This is what Google found:
Google also gave us this pretty sweet article about the history of the Stanley Cup:
The Ultimate Stanley Cup
This is why you read the Game Notes!
***
The Mathematic Battle for the Playoffs
At the beginning of the broadcast, Bally Sports North sideline reporter Kevin Gorg said the Vancouver Canucks probably have to run the table to make it into the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Later in the broadcast, Anthony LaPanta said something similar. We originally had “could” decide the fate of Vancouver’s season but changed it to “will start to” because there is still a chance. We don’t know about you but we’ve always gone the way of mathematics to decide when to give up on our team’s chances of making the playoffs because you never know what can happen in sports.
We love when people say, “a team has never made the playoffs after [Insert whatever reason here]!” but the thing is… everything that has happened had at one time “never happened before!” EVERYTHING!!!
So…never give up on your team regardless of their chances. We’ll all be doing that once the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin as the regular season records go by the wayside and every team is 0-0 with an equal chance to…
Raise the Stanley Cup!
Postgame
Head Coach Dean Evason’s Postgame Press Conference:
Some Wild fun if you didn’t see it…
This is so good, Matt Dumba and Jordan greenway pranked Brandon Duhaime, filling Duhaime’s car full of packing peanuts. My favorite reactions are Billy Guerin, Kirill Kaprizov and Nic Deslauriers 😂😂 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/AG98DGVag4
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) April 18, 2022
This team has fun! We LOVE IT!!!
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Next up:
The Seattle Kraken make their first appearance ever at the Xcel Energy Center tonight at 7pm!
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AND…as always…
