NIL-SSON BLANKS WILD
A Jake Virtanen goal, superb netminding help Canucks sink Minnesota
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Vancouver Canucks are returning home having done something they never did under former head coach Willie Desjardins.
They won four of five games on the road.
Tuesday night it was a 1-0 win against the Minnesota Wild, as Anders Nilsson recorded his second shutout of the season. Jake Virtanen’s unassisted tally at 10:07 of the third period was the only goal at the Xcel Energy Center.
This is what we learned:
Virtanen was made to play third periods
For the second consecutive game, Virtanen did something fantastic in a third period.
Sunday in Detroit, it was his hit on Niklas Kronwall. His followup against Minnesota was even better.
It was the third straight game Virtanen played with the Sedins and the third straight game he made his line better.
“I like the way he’s playing with the twins,” coach Travis Green said. “Right now, it’s a good combination. His speed is helping them and they’re helping him with his speed.”
His best play was saved for the third when he ripped off the puck in the neutral zone, breaking up a Wild rush. He turned that up the ice, then scored on his own rebound. That’s two goals in two games.
“I just saw the turnover and I just went. It was just the flow of the moment. I just got it and took off,” Virtanen said.
That’s precisely how you want Virtanen playing. On instincts.
One can’t help but think of all the goals he’d have by now if he wasn’t benched in the third periods of multiple games.
Nilsson gets comfortable
It shows you how good Nilsson has been that he was chased from one of the two games he started this year and still had a .918 save percentage.
That’s what it was when he got the call against Minnesota and he did not disappoint. Nilsson was easily the Canucks’ best player.
He was big and quiet. He was balanced and never out of control. Partway through the third, with the game scoreless, he brilliantly went post-to-post to thwart a Jason Zucker wraparound attempt.
He was at his best, however, in the Wild flurry of chances that followed the Canucks’ goal. That’s two shutouts in three games for a guy who wasn’t feeling it not that long ago.
Nilsson said he felt he was struggling in training, especially at the start of pre-season. He is not now.
“I don’t know if uncomfortable is the right word, but I didn’t feel I was performing at the level I can perform,” Nilsson said. “I wasn’t satisfied with the way I started out training camp, especially the first two games. I was not satisfied with the way I played.
“I knew I could play better than that.”
He’s been showing it.
Green can fall too hard for his grinders sometimes
Good things can happen when coach Green balances his lines. The Sedins are rested and more effective. Bo Horvat has time to find a rhythm.
There are times the balancing allows for Green to make some shrewd in-game decisions.
But for much of Tuesday night, his Brandon Sutter line was getting pumped, pinned and buried. After two periods, they were still leading the Canucks’ forward lines in ice time. That’s in a scoreless game.
Derek Dorsett plays wing with Sutter, and leads the team in goals, so it’s not like they haven’t created offence before. But it just wasn’t happening in St. Paul.
That line was playing some deadend hockey while the other two key combinations, Henrik’s line and Bo’s, were generating momentum.
The Canucks weren’t even able to use Sutter as a matchup centre because Wild coach Bruce Boudreau continued to put his grinders out when Sutter was on the ice.
Hey, if the Canucks were playing for a nil-nil draw, it was an incredibly effective approach.
Virtanen played only 10 minutes. He had four shifts in the third. On one he scored and another he got a great chance. At some point, he will play more. Right?
Gran-action was not a lot of fun
We all probably should have seen it coming. The marquee matchup for Tuesday’s Canucks-Wild game was a meeting of the Granlund brothers.
Mikael, the top-line winger for Minnesota. Markus, the shutdown forward for the Canucks.
Unfortunately, pitting them against each other generated all the electricity of a shoe-shopping excursion to Walmart.
The Granlunds aren’t exactly fun interviews. They are good players. They do, however, lack flash and excitement. And that right there pretty much sums up most of Tuesday’s game.
Canucks were relieved when they got Stecher news
It’s not often news a player will miss four to six weeks is considered good.
But that’s where Troy Stecher found himself this week.
He was unable to put any weight on his leg after a violent knee-onknee collision with Tomas Tatar Sunday.
The Canucks feared the worst and it was speculated Stecher would need season-ending knee surgery. But the MRI in Vancouver showed otherwise. Stecher could be back in a month.
If Stecher was lost for the year, it’s believed the Canucks were prepared to make a deal for another defenceman.
General manager Jim Benning said that’s no longer the case, and he seems satisfied, for now, with the seven they have after recalling Patrick Wiercioch.