Wild top Canucks in shootout for third straight win
Filip Gustavsson stopped 36 shots in regulation, and all three shots he faced in the shootout as the Wild won for the third straight time, beating the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center.
Mats Zuccarello scored the only shootout goal for either team.
Freddy Gaudreau scored in regulation for the Wild, who improved to 7-2-0 under head coach John Hynes — and have earned four points in two games without their injured top defensemen, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon. The Wild beat Calgary, 3-2, in a shootout on Thursday.
As they did Dec. 7 at Vancouver, the Wild played a strong first period. This time, however, they took a one-goal lead into the second intermission instead of a one-goal deficit (on the way to a 2-0 loss at Rogers Arena).
Charging the crease on a rush, Gaudreu tipped in a deadeye pass from Marcus Foligno — streaking down the right half boards — past DeSmith for a 1-0 lead with 1:55 left in the first period.
Pat Maroon had the second assist, his 300th career NHL point, and Foligno retrieved the puck from the net for him.
The Canucks started the second period with 1:24 of a power play, and while they didn’t score, they rode the momentum to their first goal, keeping the puck mostly in Minnesota’s zone until Blueger finished a rush at the crease to make it 1-1 at 3:50.
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