Vancouver Canucks forward Sven Baertschi returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing two games with a lower-body injury, and he picked up right where he left off. Baertschi scored the game-winning goal with 2:35 left in a high-scoring third period, and the Canucks defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-4 at Rogers Arena.
Baertschi didn't score a goal in the first 13 games, and he had only one in his first 19 before he had a goal and two assists against the Coyotes. He scored the game-winner against Minnesota when he deflected rookie defenseman Troy Stecher's slap pass from the point between goalie Darcy Kuemper's legs.
Brandon Sutter, Ben Hutton, Loui Eriksson and Bo Horvat also scored for the Canucks (10-11-2). Horvat, who is center on Baertschi's line, has three goals and four assists during a five-game point, and leads the Canucks with nine goals and 16 points. Eriksson and Horvat scored 59 seconds apart early in the third period to put the Canucks ahead 4-2, but Jason Zucker scored on a breakaway 1:12 after Horvat's goal to make it 4-3, and Erik Haula tied it 4-4 with 5:49 left.
* Daniel Sedin made a slap pass to set up Henrik Sedin for a redirection attempt in the slot, but Wild defenseman Matt Dumba blocked the tip in front, and Pominville scored on the ensuing rush the other way to make it 2-0.
"It was horrible. I don't know why. ... It was like we were saying, 'Let's see how many points we can get,' instead of playing the game the way it's supposed to be played. We don't have any right to be able to play like that." Bruce Boudreau said.
"Goals and tips, weird bounces, it was not a fun one." said Kuemper
But Baertschi put the Canucks ahead to stay a little more than three minutes later, giving Vancouver (10-11-2) consecutive victories for the first time since it won the first four games of the season. Jason Pominville scored his second goal of the game 3:24 into the second period to put Minnesota ahead 2-0, but Sutter and Hutton scored power-play goals 1:59 apart midway through the period to tie it 2-2. The Wild (11-8-3), who have allowed the fewest goals in the NHL (46), lost in regulation for the first time in five games.
* Kuemper got his right pad on Michael Chaput's backhand with 6:07 left in the third period after he got behind the Canucks defense, and Haula tied the game 18 seconds later.
* Zucker blocked Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson's shot at the blue line and skated in alone at the other end before beating Miller with a nice deke and high backhand to get the Wild back to within a goal in the third period.
* Minnesota defenseman Gustav Olofsson, who was selected with the No. 46 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, played his first game of the season and third in the NHL. He was in the lineup in place of defenseman Nate Prosser, who was a healthy scratch. … With No. 1 defenseman Alexander Edler out 4-6 weeks after surgery to repair a fractured finger, the Canucks recalled defenseman Alex Biega from a conditioning assignment in the American Hockey League, but he didn't play against the Wild. … Stecher had two assists for the first multipoint game of his NHL career.
Wild Quotes
"We got the 2-0, and it was like we were going to think this was going to be an easy game. We didn't give poor [Kuemper] any help in the third.""It was horrible. I don't know why. ... It was like we were saying, 'Let's see how many points we can get,' instead of playing the game the way it's supposed to be played. We don't have any right to be able to play like that." Bruce Boudreau said.
"Goals and tips, weird bounces, it was not a fun one." said Kuemper
Wild @ Calgary Flames 2-3 SO - Friday, December 02, 2016
Chad Johnson stopped two of three shootout attempts after making 23 saves, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Kris Versteeg scored a first-period goal and in the shootout for the Flames (12-13-2), who have won back-to-back games at home for the first time this season to start a three-game homestand. Calgary forward Sean Monahan, scored the deciding shootout goal in the second round. He faked before shooting over Devan Dubnyk's pad and past his blocker. Johnson stopped Charlie Coyle's deke with his left pad in the third round. Koivu scored at 7:40 of the third period to tie it 2-2. Stewart scored his first goal in 16 games to put Minnesota up 1-0 at 3:50 of the first period, but Calgary scored twice in 67 seconds to take a 2-1 lead. Versteeg backhanded a rebound of Jyrki Jokipakka's initial shot to tie it 1-1 at 12:26, and Backlund scored at 13:33 to put the Flames up 2-1. Backlund's was the second power-play goal Calgary scored at home this season.
* Spurgeon dropped into the butterfly to block Sam Bennett's shot from the edge of the crease with Dubnyk out of position at 2:51 of overtime.
* Koivu got his stick out to deflect Matthew Tkachuk's shot from the slot to keep the game tied 2-2 after a setup from Alex Chiasson left Tkachuk shooting at an almost empty net with 6:18 remaining in the third period.
* Dubnyk has allowed three goals or fewer in every start, and two or fewer in 13 of the 18. … Johnson is 7-2-0 with a 1.55 goals against average and .949 save percentage since shutting out the Wild on Nov. 15. … Monahan has a point in three straight games (one goal, two assists) after none in eight of his previous nine. … With an assist on Koivu's goal, Jason Zucker has five assists and six points during a five-game point streak.
"We've just got to get sharper. We're a great hockey team. We talk about that in the room. Just because we're a great hockey team doesn't mean it's just going to happen for us. We have to go out there and be great. We have a lot of guys in this room that can do that. It's a long season. I have no doubt we'll get back to where we were."
"In a game that wasn't our best, we weren't as sharp as we'd like to be, to come out with a point and get a big goal in the third is something to build on."
"We're not going to overthink the [shootout]. I think I'd like to make the save, but we'll work on that. Those are just things [where] you do your best and try to bear down." Dubnyk said.
Mikko Koivu scored with 1:49 left in overtime and Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves for the Minnesota Wild in a 2-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. Koivu took a drop pass from Charlie Coyle, cut to the net and beat Oilers goaltender Jonas Gustavsson for the game-winning goal. Coyle scored the opening goal for the Wild (12-8-4). Patrick Maroon scored and Gustavsson made 31 saves for the Oilers (14-10-3). Maroon scored to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 2:56 of the first period, getting to a long rebound off a point shot from defenseman Mark Fayne and quickly putting it past Dubnyk. Coyle tied the game 1-1 with 54.9 seconds left in the period when he took a pass from Nino Niederreiter and beat Gustavsson for his ninth goal of the season. Oilers captain Connor McDavid left the game in the second period because of the NHL's concussion protocol when his face hit the ice after being tripped by Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon. He returned in the third period and had an excellent chance to give the Oilers the lead with 3:16 left on a 2-on-1 rush with Leon Draisaitl. Prior to Koivu's goal, Gustavsson poke-checked the puck away from Wild forward Zach Parise on a similar opportunity in overtime.
* Niederreiter attempted a centering pass, which was blocked, but the puck bounced back to him and he passed it to Coyle alone in front at 19:05 of the first period to tie the game 1-1.
* Dubnyk squeezed a shot between his arm and body from McDavid on a 2-on-1 rush with 3:16 left in the third period.
* Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon knocked down a pass from McDavid to break up a 2-on-1 rush at 12:40 of the third period.
* McDavid was held without a point for the second consecutive game and ninth time this season. … Dubnyk is 7-1-0 lifetime against the Oilers.
Wild Quotes
"Mikko Koivu did so many things aside from scoring that winning goal. He was 21-2 on the faceoffs. I've never seen it that high, that kind of percentage for that kind of number you've taken. I'm sure someone has been 26-1 at some point, but not too many people have done that. He was out there every time there was an important faceoff. I thought he controlled the game when he was out there. He was a true leader out there." Bruce Boudreau said.
"Yeah, it's fun, this was the start of my career and I have a lot of good memories here. I will always enjoy it if I can go out for a quick lap on a win. I'm not going to pass up that opportunity, but it's nothing sour by any means." Devan Dubnyk said.
"When you win on the road on a long road trip, especially early in the year, you start building that chemistry between the guys on the team." Mikko Koivu Said.
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