Ryan Kesler shines as leaders Vancouver Canucks get shutout win against Minnesota Wild in last home game – NHL update
It was a great way to honour the home crowd as the Canucks played their second last game of the season. They shutout the Minnesota Wild 5-0 to improve their position to 115 points, widening the margin between them and other teams in their last home game
at the sold out Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia on Thursday.
Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler scored in the first period to take an early lead. Raymond scored the first midway while Kesler added his 38th goal of the season with 28 seconds remaining during Minnesota’s only penalty of the period.
The home team was able to kill over eight minutes of penalty time during the match. Minnesota’s Brad Staubitz was awarded with a 10 minute penalty after illegally cross-checking Keith Ballard into the boards during the final period.
Ryan Kesler fired off another at the 7:20 mark of the second period unassisted. Raymond also added his second of the night nearly two minutes later, giving NHL leading scorer Daniel Sedin his second assist.
Kesler extended the lead to 5-0 early in the third period, making it his 40th of the season and completing his third career hat-trick. It was an impressive way to end a nine game scoreless slump. He rushed the puck from centre ice and fired it
past Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom.
Backstrom was replaced by Jose Theodore after Kesler’s hat-trick shot. He made 18 rejections off of 23 attempts while Theodore, who played for the remaining 17:42, managed to save the 5 remaining shots. Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo outperformed both opponents
by blocking all 29 attempts.
The Canucks will remain short a player for two games into the playoffs first round. Left wing Raffi Torres was penalized with a four game suspension after his head hit on the Edmonton Oilers forward player Jordan Eberle.
Defenseman Alex Edler rejoined the Canucks after two and a half months due to a back surgery. Dan Hamhuis, who is another defender, is expected to make a comeback against their final game against the Calgary Flames on Saturday after being sidelined since
March 27 because of a concussion.
Slowly but steadily, the Canucks are expected to rebuild their team on time. They can expect great results when they perform with a full roster heading into their best ever postseason start.
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