In Vancouver, Casey DeSmith made 26 saves on Thursday night in a 2-0 Canucks shut out of the visiting Minnesota Wild.
He was great, especially in the first period when they were flying,” Vancouver forward Conor Garland said of DeSmith. “Guys at the end were trying to block every shot to preserve that shutout for him because he deserved it.”
For the Wild, it was their first loss under new coach John Hynes.
“Obviously the first period was very good and we didn’t get rewarded for it, and then I thought in the second we didn’t manage the puck well … and that gave them momentum,” said Hynes. “The first four games were a little bit different style of games. This is the first time we’ve seen this style of game against us and we didn’t handle it the right way, so it’s a good opportunity to grow from it.”
The Canucks improved to 17-9-1, and are skirting with .500 hockey over their last 10 marches.
“We’re going to go through those lulls and inconsistency, and if you can stay away from those three-, four-, five-, six-game losing streaks, it builds confidence,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “Because when you’re tired or not playing well, sometimes you can hang in.”
Nils Hoglander scored with 1:55 left on the first period clock to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead.
The Wild dropped to 9-11-4.
“You’re not going to win every game, it happens,” the Wild’s Marcus Johansson said. “We’ve got to learn from it a little bit and move on and get ready for [Friday’s game at the Edmonton Oilers], but we can’t lay down and die losing one game. I feel like we’ve been playing well, so get back on the horse and keep going.”
Teddy Blueger scored off a breakaway at 2:05 of the third period for the 2-0 final.
“I knew I had a little bit of time because they all flew the zone and it was a nice finish by Teddy,” Garland said.
Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves in the loss.
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