Minnesota Wild continue slump as Vancouver Canucks shutout 4-0 -NHL Update
An unfortunate slump of one of the top teams at the moment, the Minnesota Wild, continued as the Vancouver Canucks shut them out, 4-0, with Roberto Luongo earning yet another perfect performance with his 33 saves on Monday night, December 19, 2011, at the
sold-out Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, United States.
After winning seven straight, the Wild have suddenly lost their running momentum and have lost the past four now against teams like the Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders and now Vancouver Canucks along with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Vancouver moved up in the Western Conference ranking with its second straight victory and is now tied with the St. Louis Blues for the fifth number position with 42 points. Minnesota is still number two with 45 points but if they continue this way any longer,
it would not be surprising to find them sitting on the edge of the playoff division line.
Henrik Sedin kicked off the scoring with his ninth goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season with less than two minutes remaining in the opening period on their first power play opportunity of the night as the Wild lost Colton Gillies
with a minor penalty for hooking Alexander Sulzer.
The Canucks American All-Star player, Ryan Kesler, extended the lead with his eighth midway through the second period on another power play opportunity, this tome with Dany Heatley on the bench for high-sticking Alex Burrows.
Alex Burrows did not let that high-sticking incident affect him and came out to score his 12th and first of the night with two minutes to go in the second, giving the home team a more than comfortable, 3-0, victory headed into the third and final
period of regulation.
Jannik Hansen found the open slot behind Minnesota Wild goalie, Niklas Backstrom, to fire off his 11th after Cody Hodgson found the player wide open with less than four minutes to go to secure the match in Vancouver’s favour.
The Canucks have the next against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday in which they will definitely be looking for a third straight victory while the Minnesota Wild hope to snap their losing streak against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
Tags: