Gone Puck Wild
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Minnesota Wild: Three takeaways from strong result versus Vancouver Canucks

By Luke Ryan

VANCOUVER, BC - DECEMBER 4: Ben Hutton #27 and Anders Nilsson #31 of the Vancouver Canucks look on as Jason Zucker #16 of the Minnesota Wild scores his first goal during their NHL game at Rogers Arena December 4, 2018 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC - DECEMBER 4: Ben Hutton #27 and Anders Nilsson #31 of the Vancouver Canucks look on as Jason Zucker #16 of the Minnesota Wild scores his first goal during their NHL game at Rogers Arena December 4, 2018 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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VANCOUVER, BC - DECEMBER 4: Anders Nilsson #31 of the Vancouver Canucks makes a save off the shot of Joel Eriksson Ek #14 of the Minnesota Wild during their NHL game at Rogers Arena December 4, 2018 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Wild won 3-2. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC – DECEMBER 4: Anders Nilsson #31 of the Vancouver Canucks makes a save off the shot of Joel Eriksson Ek #14 of the Minnesota Wild during their NHL game at Rogers Arena December 4, 2018 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Wild won 3-2. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Minnesota Wild went into their tilt with the Vancouver Canucks on a three-game losing streak and looking genuinely frustrated.

Beginning a three-game stretch in Western Canada, the Minnesota Wild knew they needed to get it rolling with a good start, but actually found themselves behind in this game early on.

Vancouver’s newest addition, Josh Leivo lofted one past Devan Dubnyk on the Canucks’ first shot of the game and you had to wonder whether this was a sign of things to come.

However, this didn’t feel like recent nights, where there was no puck luck for the Wild. Whether it was the ineptness of the Vancouver outfit or the Minnesota Wild were actually stepping their game up is anyone’s guess though.

Whatever happened though, the Wild managed to respond to going a goal down, notching a reply on the power-play.

The second period once again saw a slow start from the home team, but again once they started shooting, they managed to score. The tell-tale signs of not focusing on the defense enough and not giving Devan Dubnyk the protection he needed were there, though maybe not as much as recently.

Insistent that they weren’t going to succumb to a fourth defeat in as many games, the Minnesota Wild fought their way back into the contest, drawing two penalties in succession and netting on both the corresponding power-plays, just 55 seconds apart.

Suddenly there was energy in the team again, even causing a bit of a drama at the end of the second period when Greg Pateryn was called for boarding Jake Virtanen.

A third period that required the team to simply hang on and not surrender any late goals like they had a few days’ earlier against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the losing streak was over. Here are the three key takeaways from the Minnesota Wild’s 3-2 win:

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