DeSmith stops 26 in shutout, Canucks hand Wild 1st loss under Hynes
Hoglander, Blueger score for Vancouver, which has 17 shots on goal; Minnesota had won 4 in row
By
Kevin Woodley
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
The shutout was DeSmith’s first for the Canucks since being acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Sept. 19, and his 10th in the NHL. It was also DeSmith’s first shutout since April 21, 2022, a 4-0 victory for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Boston Bruins.
“He was great, especially in the first period when they were flying,” Vancouver forward Conor Garland said of DeSmith. “Guys at the end were trying to block every shot to preserve that shutout for him because he deserved it.”
Nils Hoglander and Teddy Blueger scored for the Canucks (17-9-1), who have alternated wins and losses in their past 10 games. Vancouver had 17 shots on goal, including four in the first period and three in the third.
“We're going to go through those lulls and inconsistency, and if you can stay away from those three-, four-, five-, six-game losing streaks, it builds confidence,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “Because when you're tired or not playing well, sometimes you can hang in.”
Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves for the Wild (9-11-4), who had won four straight after Hynes took over as coach Nov. 27. Minnesota had outscored opponents 18-5 during its winning streak.
“You're not going to win every game, it happens,” Wild forward Marcus Johansson said. “We've got to learn from it a little bit and move on and get ready for [Friday’s game at the Edmonton Oilers], but we can't lay down and die losing one game. I feel like we've been playing well, so get back on the horse and keep going.”
Minnesota had the first 10 shots of the game, preventing Vancouver from getting its first until 13:18 of the first period. But the Wild couldn’t beat DeSmith, who was making his first start in five games and made his best saves on a few scrambles around the crease.
“There was a lot of action down low, which is nice when you haven’t played in a while,” DeSmith said. “That’s kind of always been one of my things. I’ve always been somebody who can have a long layoff and hop back in and do my job. I think it’s an extra focus in practice, a little extra gear that I have to have so when I go into a game, the game doesn’t feel that much faster.”
DeSmith improved to 5-0-0 with a .943 save percentage against the Wild, who had won their previous eight games against the Canucks.
“I don’t think it’s anything in particular,” DeSmith said. "I just try to show up every game and sometimes it goes your way.”
Hoglander put Vancouver ahead 1-0 at 18:05 of the first period after being moved up from the fourth line to the second. He pulled up off the rush near the top of the right circle and waited for Minnesota defenseman Nikita Zadorov to cut in front of Gustavsson before shooting a quick wrist shot past his glove.
“I felt like we had full control in the first period there and then they made a great read, great screen there,” Gustavsson said. “Hoglander was just waiting there, and he saw an opportunity to put it just in there.”
Gustavsson kept it close in the second period with tough pad saves against Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson on an early power play, and threw out the blocker to stop Garland on a point-blank one-timer from the slot at 6:23. He went right to left to deny J.T. Miller on a backdoor one-timer on another power play at 16:23.
“They had more control and I think I came up with some good saves,” Gustavsson said. “DeSmith did too, and we just couldn't break through him.”
Blueger made it 2-0 at 2:05 of the third period on a breakaway from the hash marks, faking Gustavsson to his left before pulling it back the other way on his forehand. The play started with Dakota Joshua keeping it in at the Minnesota blue line and passing over to Garland, who found Blueger behind the Wild defense.
“I knew I had a little bit of time because they all flew the zone and it was a nice finish by Teddy,” Garland said.
Hynes said there were a lot of good lessons his new team can take from the loss. He didn’t like that Minnesota stopped dumping pucks in behind the Vancouver defense to set up its forecheck after the first period.
“Obviously the first period was very good and we didn't get rewarded for it, and then I thought in the second we didn't manage the puck well … and that gave them momentum,” said Hynes. “The first four games were a little bit different style of games. This is the first time we've seen this style of game against us and we didn't handle it the right way, so it's a good opportunity to grow from it.”
NOTES: DeSmith’s shutout was the first by a Canucks backup goalie since Anders Nilsson against the Wild on Oct, 24, 2017. … Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello’s 10-game point streak ended (three goals, 11 assists). … Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian missed his third straight game with a lower body injury, but skated Thursday and could return Friday. … Boeser had an assist to extend his point streak to six games and nine points (five goals, four assists).
