Virtanen helps Canucks strike down Wild
ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Anders Nilsson’s follow-up to a shutout in his Vancouver Canucks debut was a four-goal loss to Boston in which he was pulled less than 11 minutes into the game.
Vancouver coach Travis Green wasn’t sure how Nilsson would respond when he received another start on Tuesday in Minnesota. The goaltender’s next effort matched his stellar debut and made the loss a distant memory.
Jake Virtanen broke a scoreless tie midway through the third period and Nilsson made 29 saves for his fourth career shutout as the Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild 1-0 on Tuesday night.
“I’m happy for him,” Green said. “He played a great game in Ottawa and even though we pulled him in the Boston game, I didn’t think he had a lot of chance on any of those goals. You always wonder where a guy’s psyche is at when he goes back in net, but obviously I didn’t have to worry.”
Virtanen scored his second goal of the season and the second in as many games for Vancouver, which won three of four games on its four-game road trip.
Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves in goal for Minnesota, but suffered his third loss in five starts this season.
“Like I said between the second and third period to these guys, ‘They outplayed us. We got outplayed that period. We are just going to have to pick it up and play to win,’ ” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We played not to win. We played to tie the game. You can’t play that way.”
Neither team could generate much offensively Tuesday as passes routinely deflected off sticks and little flow kept the forwards from generating strong scoring chances.
Vancouver blocked four shots in the game, including six by defenceman Michael Del Zotto.
“I felt good tonight, but tonight was a huge team victory,” Nilsson said. “I think the guys in front of me, they probably blocked more shots than I made saves tonight. So, it was real easy to play goal tonight and it was fun to see the guys in front of you, how much they battled, how many shots they blocked.”
The Canucks only had six shots on goal in the first period and five in the third. Virtanen took advantage of his chance, collecting a loose puck in the neutral zone and skating in on Dubnyk. Virtanen’s initial shot was blocked by kneeling defenceman Jared Spurgeon, but Virtanen quickly snapped the loose puck past Dubnyk from in the slot.
“I was trying to get a rebound for them driving the net, but it ended up coming back to me and I got on net quick and got it in,” Virtanen said.
Minnesota hasn’t been the same without three of its top-nine forwards, including Zach Parise, who underwent back surgery on Tuesday and is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks.
The Wild outshot Vancouver 11-6 in the first and couldn’t score on four power plays.
“We let them off the hook too many times,” forward Jason Zucker said. MONTREAL — Shea Weber scored twice as the Montreal Canadiens ended their seven-game losing skid with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher and Max Pacioretty also scored for the Canadiens (2-6-1), which had not won since their season opener. Carey Price made 26 saves and Jonathan Drouin had two assists. PITTSBURGH — Phil Kessel found a way to upstage Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
The Pittsburgh forward raced down the slot and beat goalie Cam Talbot 42 seconds into overtime to give the Penguins a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
McDavid forced the extra period with his first goal in seven games, a wrist shot with 2:53 left in regulation that tied it.