Wild blank Canucks behind Gustavsson's 1st career shutout
Minnesota goalie makes 35 saves as Vancouver goes goalless for 1st time this year
Filip Gustavsson stopped 35 shots for his first NHL shutout as the visiting Minnesota Wild snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night.
Matt Boldy, on the power play, and Connor Dewar, shorthanded, scored for the Wild (14-11-2), who were playing their third game in four nights. Mats Zuccarello collected his second assist of the night on Sam Steel's third-period goal.
Many of the shots Gustavsson faced were from long-range. He made a nice stop on a Bo Horvat deflection on a second-period power play then got a right pad on an Ilya Mikheyev shot on the doorstep with 8:15 left in the third period.
Goaltender Spencer Martin stopped 30 shots for the Canucks (12-13-3) who saw their three-game win streak end. It was the first time this year Vancouver was shutout.
Steel put the Wild ahead 3-0 when he lifted a backhand over Martin's shoulder at 8:51 of the third.
WATCH l Wild score in all 3 periods to top host Canucks:
After being badly outplayed in the opening period, the Canucks outshot the Wild 19-7 in the second, but it was Minnesota who went ahead 2-0 on Dewar's short-handed goal at 16:08 of the period.
The Wild were killing their third consecutive penalty when Vancouver's J.T. Miller threw a pass off the boards in Minnesota's zone that Dewar intercepted. He skated the length of the ice and blew a shot over Martin's blocker for his fourth goal of the year.
Boldy opened the scoring at 16:43 of the first period, just eight seconds after Vancouver's Oliver Ekman-Larsson was sent off for hooking. Zuccarello fired a shot from the point that Martin stopped but Boldy put in the rebound for his 10th of the year.
The Wild outshot Vancouver 14-4 in the first period. Martin kept it close stopping Jordan Greenway on a breakaway and getting a leg on a Marcus Foligno shot on a power play.
