In Vancouver, the Minnesota Wild kept the steam high in the engine and used a hat trick from Mikael Granlund to upend the Canucks, 6-3.
It was his first such feat in the NHL.
“A hat trick really doesn’t happen too often,” Granlund said. “I don’t even remember if I’ve ever done that, so obviously it’s fun, but I’m even more glad we got the win.”
Granlund is not known for scoring.
“Obviously [Mikael] is known much more as a passer than he is a shooter, but he made a lot of great plays,” said Jason Zucker. “It actually might be the first time I’ve seen him smile all year.”
The win was a response to a 5-1 drubbing in Calgary earlier in the week.
Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves to get the win.
Brandon Sutter had two goals and Bo Horvat added a marker in the loss.
“They proved why they are the top team in the West,” Horvat said. “Every breakdown we had seemed to be in the back of our net. We had too many of them and we let them capitalize.”
Ryan Miller made 33 saves in the loss as the Canucks dropped to 23-23-6 and have lost three straight.
“They were so relentless. The minute we were going to break down they were going to jump on us,” Vancouver head coach Willie Desjardins said of the Wild’s persistence.
WATCH: All Wild vs. Canucks highlights
Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Mike Reilly had goals for the Wild who improved to 34-12-5.
You must be logged in to post a comment.