In St Paul, Vancouver’s J.T. Miller scored a power play goal in the eighth minute of the third period to tie Thursday’s game at 2-2, between the Canucks and Minnesota Wild.
The goal forced extra time.
The Wild rebounded when Joel Eriksson Ek hit for the game-winner with 31 seconds gone in the extra session for a 3-2 win to Minnesota.
“It’s kind of hard when you get that much time,” Eriksson Ek said. “A lot of thinking goes through your head what you’re going to do. I mean, I’ve seen (Wild forward Mats Zuccarello) do that move a lot of times, just trying to be like him for that one.”
The Canucks dropped to 31-26-9.
Cam Talbot made 26 saves in the Minnesota win.
“We get that goal disallowed, rightfully so, [but] we didn’t lose our composure,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “… So that was exciting for us, that we were able to hold our composure in those areas, because it’s going to happen. You’re going to get a bad call. You’re going to get a bad break, and that’s what the season’s for. We’ve hopefully learned from many experiences early in the season as well.”
Vancouver took a 1-0 lead in the opening period off a strike from Bo Horvat .
“I thought we did a great job of pouncing on them and getting our legs under us after a long travel day and minimal rest,” Horvat said. “We knew they were going to come. That’s the type of team they are. They played heavy. They played mean and physical. I thought we countered that pretty well.”
The Wild improved to 38-20-4.
Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala scored for Minnesota in regulation.
“We’ve been great defensively,” Fiala said. “A good job bearing down. Just stay on the right side of the ice and don’t give them too much in the D-zone. Just stay tight and don’t give them too many opportunities. We’re blocking shots, boxing out, the details are great now.”
Thatcher Demko made 33 saves in the Canucks loss.
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