Win over Wild evens road trip record
Winger wanted victory for his ailing dad while goalie gains back-to-back successes
CANUCKS 4, WILD 1
ST. PAUL, MINN. Do it for Duke.
It was a simple suggestion to make a Sunday matinee memorable for the health-challenged father of Brock Boeser.
Beset by a myriad of continuing medical conditions that have been life-threatening and emotionally draining, Duke’s drive and determination to make the most of every day have been passed to his humble and hard-working son.
Duke was one of nearly 100 Boeser backers from the winger’s nearby hometown of Burnsville, Minn., to see the Vancouver Canucks get the better of the Minnesota Wild. It made for a better day because of what Duke has endured and the inspiration he provides.
He suffered a heart attack in July. He had CPR. His heart stopped. He suffered a second attack and was in intensive care for three weeks and in hospital for 3 1/2 months. He has battled Parkinson’s and cancer and a brain injury.
“Brock’s first game and first goal were here and just the whole environment and the setting is special,” said defenceman Troy Stecher, whose long-standing friendship with Boeser dates to their playing days at the University of North Dakota. “And he’s so humble and especially at his age.
“Everybody has challenges in life and every family goes through difficult times, but for him it’s pretty broadcasted and to see him come to the rink every day with a smile on his face and to go to work and then go home to deal with it, it’s pretty impressive. He’s a good professional.”
And as much as Boeser wanted to make a difference on the ice, he couldn’t help but wonder what was happening off it.
A 4-1 win on the fourth game of a five-game road trip helped ease all his concerns — at least for one day.
Here’s what we learned as Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat and Stecher scored for the Canucks before Horvat’s empty-netter sealed the deal on Sunday:
POWER IN THEIR PLAY?
It’s supposed to be their salvation, their get-out-of-jail-free card when they struggle to score at even strength.
However, going 0-for-12 with the man advantage the previous four games — and failing to score on their first five power-play opportunities Sunday — was putting a game they should control in peril.
The league’s fifth-ranked first unit wasn’t having trouble gaining the offensive zone — either getting there off the rush or with the drop pass — it’s what didn’t happen next. With Pettersson and Boeser at their customary shooting dots and Quinn Hughes directing traffic, the Canucks were stagnant. They were predictable and plodding and looking for the perfect play and the perfect one-timer goal.
They had 5-on-4, 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 chances in the first period. Pettersson had two great chances on the 4-on-3 with two heavy shots.
In the second period, the Canucks did zip with a 5-on-3 for 1:23 and it took going old school to get some new-found power-play life.
When Pettersson set a screen, a half-slapper by Hughes was deflected by the centre to open the scoring.
“The power play was not good,” said Pettersson. “I don’t know if it was a broken play in the middle of a shift, but I ended up in front of the net and Quinn shot the puck and it hit my stick. Lately, we’ve kind of wanted to do too much. We have to simplify. Strange flow to the game, but with all the power plays we had, we should have gotten more than one goal.”
Jacob Markstrom got back-toback starts because coach Travis Green thought he was good Saturday with 25 saves in a 6-3 win at Buffalo and deserved to get the cage again. It was a pretty good hunch.
Although it looked like it was going to be an easy afternoon with the Canucks having a 14-3 shot advantage in the early going, the starter was going to face some serious rubber.
Nobody was happy after the two games in Florida and we’ve given ourselves a chance to make this a good road trip.
In the second period, he twice thwarted Ryan Suter on 5-on-3 scoring attempts and then went post-to-post in time to stop Mats Zuccarello on a redirect while stationed at the back door for what looked like a sure goal.
Markstrom was finally beaten
when a hot Luke Kunin shot caught him high and the rebound was shoved home by a diving Marcus Foligno, who out-legged Boeser and Chris Tanev.
However, Horvat scored 1:22 later by getting to a loose puck at the side of the net before Stecher walked in from the point and let a wrist shot fly that eluded the dubious glove of goalie Devan Dubnyk.
Markstrom then made sure the Wild didn’t get any needed momentum by denying Carson Soucy on a backhander after he blew by Loui Eriksson. Markstrom then sprawled out of position and Zuccarello’s shot found Tanev instead of the open net.
Markstrom also made crucial pad saves in the third period, including a trio of late-game stops, to maintain a two-goal cushion.
“I was ready to play and I always feel better when I play more rather than less,” said Markstrom, who finished with 23 saves.
“Obviously, it was a mistake by me on their goal — a bad rebound — but right after we go and score two quick ones to go up 3-1, which was huge on the road.
“Nobody was happy after the two games in Florida (outscored 14-4 in a 9-2 loss at Tampa and a 5-2 defeat in Florida) and we’ve given ourselves a chance to make this a good road trip.”
Maybe Stecher put it best about the last line of defence who looks like a first star on so many nights.
“He deserves to be an all-star,” said Stecher of Markstrom.
“Some games he wins for us we didn’t deserve. He’s definitely the backbone of this group.”