The Minnesota Wild went up to Canada for a quick 2-game road trip starting in Vancouver against the Canucks. Newly-acquired F Marcus Johansson started his 2nd stint with the Minnesota Wild on a line with Matt Boldy & Joel Eriksson Ek.
He ended up replacing another Marcus as Foligno is out with a lower body injury:
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Wild projected lineup
Forwards
Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Jordan Greenway — Frederick Gaudreau — Brandon Duhaime
Mason Shaw — Connor Dewar — Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Alex Goligoski — Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill — Calen Addison
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury
Filip Gustavsson
Scratched: Sam Steel, Dakota Mermis
Injured: Marcus Foligno (lower body), Jonas Brodin (lower body)
Status report
Foligno, a forward, is day to day and could play at the Calgary Flames on Saturday, Wild coach Dean Evason said. … Johansson will take Foligno’s spot in the lineup and make his Minnesota debut after being acquired in a trade with the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. … Brodin, a defenseman, is not on the road trip and will miss his fifth straight game. … Fleury will alternate starts with Gustavsson for the fifth game in a row.
Vancouver Canucks
Canucks projected lineup
Forwards
Andrei Kuzmenko — Elias Pettersson — Anthony Beauvillier
Dakota Joshua — Nils Aman — Conor Garland
Vasily Podkolzin — Jack Studnicka — Brock Boeser
Vitali Kravtsov — Aatu Raty — Sheldon Dries
Defensemen
Quinn Hughes — Noah Juulsen
Guillaume Brisebois — Tyler Myers
Christian Wolanin — Kyle Burroughs
Goalies
Thatcher Demko
Collin Delia
Scratched: None
Injured: Filip Hronek (upper body), Ethan Bear (face), J.T. Miller (lower body), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ankle), Curtis Lazar (lower body), Travis Dermott (undisclosed), Ilya Mikheyev (torn ACL), Tanner Pearson (hand), Tucker Poolman (undisclosed)
Status Report
Miller, a center who has missed one game, will be a game-time decision. … Hronek is expected to join the Canucks sometime this weekend after being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday; the defenseman will be evaluated by Vancouver’s medical staff before determining a timeline for his return. … Demko will make his second straight start. … Lazar, a center who has missed five games, resumed practicing Wednesday and could return against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Game Recap
1st Period
44 seconds into the game and the Wild got the puck deep and went to work as Mats Zuccarello found his buddy Kirill at the left side of the net just waiting for a pass to tip into the net!
19:16 – Goal – Minnesota – Kirill Kaprizov from Mats Zuccarello & Jared Spurgeon
1-0 Wild
Wild F Connor Dewar took a delay of game penalty when he accidentally sent the puck out of play a couple of minutes later but the Wild killed it off then drew their own power play when Jake Middleton got a stick to the face from Sheldon Dries.
The Wild couldn’t capitalize on the power play although they did get some good chances then Ryan Hartman got a shot from the slot and hit the post! OHHH!!!
7:29 – Penalty – Minnesota – Kirill Kaprizov for Tripping Connor Garland
Kirill went to the boards to win a puck and he accidentally hit Garland’s left skate and he fell down because of it.
5:57 – Goal – Vancouver – Brock Boeser from Vitali Kravtsov & Connor Garland
Vancouver acquired F Vitali Kravtsov from the Rangers just 5 days ago* because the Rangers couldn’t find a place for him in their lineup. We’ll have to check back in a few years (or maybe months) to see how the Russian forward does when he was given a bigger opportunity.
*Dare we say this was a Krav-ty trade! I’ll show myself out.
He made a great seam pass for a Brock Boeser* one-timer to the upper right corner to snap the Wild’s penalty killing streak at 27 and make it a…
1-1 Tie
Kravtsov took a look before receiving the pass then caught & passed the puck in one motion as the Wild forgot about Boeser because of too much puck watching and Matt Dumba not having his stick on the ice. That pass can’t get through.
*Let’s talk about Brock – Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of this article.
Very good period for the Wild as they outshot the Canucks 14-6 but the game is even at 1.
2nd Period
Vancouver had some momentum to finish the 1st and kept it to begin the 2nd period but Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury made a few big saves to keep the game tied at one.
Then 3:40 in, Ryan Hartman fed Kirill Kaprizov for a breakaway…
And from another angle…
3rd Period
Wild F Brandon Duhaime threw a hit on Vasily Podkolzin and Canucks D Kyle Burroughs took exception to it and as he was in a battle for the puck, he was looking at Duhaime and they threw down their mitts to fight. Duhaime appeared to be winning the fight then at the very end Burroughs caught him in the jaw. 5 for fighting for both of them but there was a delay and Duhaime ended up having to go to the locker room to be checked for a concussion.
15:12 – Penalty – Minnesota – Connor Dewar for Tripping Elias Pettersson
Connor Dewar then took his 2nd penalty of the game when he appeared to have hit the puck off a Vancouver player’s stick but his follow through hit his skate to trip him.
The Wild killed it off as they will try to start a new penalty killing streak.
12:29 – Penalty – Vancouver – Tyler Myers for Delay of Game
No dice on the power play for the Wild.
1:06 – Penalty – Vancouver – J.T. Miller for Holding Kirill Kaprizov
With an empty net, a loose puck went out to the right side of the Canucks blue line so Kirill Kaprizov & J.T. Miller were in a race to get to it and Miller seemed to give up on it and tried to get around Kaprizov by raising his arm above him and one angle looks like he may have only hit him on the hip to knock him down but the official called holding.
The Wild basically played keep away to begin the power play but Vancouver eventually got the puck and threw a couple shots at the net but Marc-Andre Fleury was there to stop them all for another Wild Win!!!
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Final
Minnesota Wild 2 | 1 Vancouver Canucks
Goals
MN: 1. Kirill Kaprizov(38), 2. Kirill Kaprizov(39)
VAN: 1. Brock Boeser(12)
*PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists
MN: 1. Mats Zuccarello(38), Jared Spurgeon(18), 2. Ryan Hartman(14), Ryan Reaves(7)
VAN: 1. Vitali Kravtsov(4), Connor Garland(22)
Goalies
MN: Marc-Andre Fleury – 21 Saves on 22 Shots, .955 Save%, 19th Win
539th Career Win &…
VAN:
Thatcher Demko – 34 Saves on 36 Shots, .944 Save%, 11th Loss
