Canucks’ woes continue
Vancouver leads twice, 1-0 and 2-1, but falls 3-2 to visiting Minnesota
VANCOUVER — A pair of goals from Jason Zucker led the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
The win snapped the Wild’s three-game losing streak and extended a slump that has seen the Canucks post a single victory in their last 13 outings.
Zach Parise also scored for Minnesota (1510-2).
Josh Leivo and Tyler Motte put up goals for Vancouver (11-15-3).
Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves for the Wild and Anders Nilsson stopped 25-of-28 shots for the Canucks.
Leivo put Vancouver on the board 7:02 into the game, scoring on his first-ever shot in a Canucks’ uniform.
He collected a pass from rookie Elias Pettersson in the slot and flipped it over Dubnyk’s blocker to open the scoring.
The 25-year-old left-winger was dealt to Vancouver from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday in exchange for AHL forward Michael Carcone.
Leivo had four goals and two assists in 27 appearances for the Leafs this season.
Tied 1-1, the Canucks were slow to start in the second frame, going more than eight minutes without registering a single shot.
Vancouver eventually found some fire and the back of the net.
Tim Schaller got the puck to Motte in front of the Wild’s net and he swept it in past Dubnyk. But Minnesota rallied back with a pair of power-play goals less than a minute apart to prevail.
Vancouver welcomes NHL’s newest team, rivalry with Seattle
VANCOUVER — Seattle’s new NHL team should be a natural foe for the Canucks, but Vancouver owner Francesco Aquilini was quick to welcome Tuesday’s news that the NHL board of governors had unanimously approved a yet-to-be-named franchise in Seattle — set to start in the 2021-22 season.
“Great to welcome Seattle to the NHL!” Aquilini tweeted. “I’ve got a feeling this will become a classic rivalry.”
The Emerald City is located just over 200 kilometres south of Vancouver and there’s already an intense competition in Major League Soccer between the Vancouver Whitecaps and their regional adversaries, the Seattle Sounders.
Seattle’s NHL franchise will be joining the Canucks in the Pacific Division.