Gustavsson stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout. Mats Zuccarello was the lone scorer.
“How we are playing now, it feels more comfortable,” Gustavsson said. “Earlier in the year if we were in these types of games, it didn't feel like we created as many chances and it didn't feel like we could score in these types of games. Now it feels like we're still creating the chances. The other goalie has played very well and you just have to wait for the chances to go in.”
Frederick Gaudreau scored for Minnesota (12-12-4), which has won three straight and improves to 7-2-0 under John Hynes, hired as coach on Nov. 27 to replace Dean Evason. The Wild have held opponents to two goals or fewer in eight of those nine games since Hynes took over.
“Coming into the game, that’s one thing we talked with the team about was just that it was going to be a game where we wanted to take away their time and space,” Hynes said. “We knew our time and space was going to be taken away. Fighting for ice was a big part of it and then really going into the third period we had to get the big (penalty) kill and then we knew it was going to be a grinding third period and I thought we did a pretty good job handling that.”
Casey DeSmith made 30 saves and Teddy Blueger scored for Vancouver (20-9-2), which had outscored opponents 14-4 during its winning streak.
“I liked the third (period),” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “Obviously, the first two (periods) were kind of, I don’t know if it’s the plane ride, not being able to skate. I don’t know what you attribute it to but the execution was a little bit off the first couple. Then we started to find ourselves a little bit.”
It was the first shootout of the season for the Canucks.
“It’s a different sort of game. It’s just one-on-one,” DeSmith said. “The guy’s got all the time in the world. So it’s definitely a little bit different feel than even overtime or 5-on-5. A little bit different, nice to get in one, I guess, but wish we came out on top."
Gaudreau gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 18:05 of the first period with a backhanded tip in front off a Marcus Foligno pass from the right circle. Pat Maroon assisted on the play for his 300th NHL point.
"I just saw him leak by their D,” Foligno said. “I think the way the puck kind of slowed down over the blue line and kind of gave us a little bit more time and they got kind of stuck in between, and I just thought that he was alone and he made that great tip on that play. I kind of gave him a rolling puck so he did great with it."
Blueger tied it 1-1 at 3:50 of the second period, after Dakota Joshua found him cutting up the slot and crashing the net for the tip to beat Gustavsson on the glove side.
“It was a good effort,” Blueger said. “I think probably not our best, not our sharpest. The execution wasn’t as good as we have been and we’d like to be, but we stuck with it. Obviously, Casey held us in there for a bit. Stuck with it, guys were blocking shots, competing, things like that. So, we put ourselves in good position to win. Obviously, didn’t get it done in the end, but I think the effort was pretty good.”
Joel Eriksson Ek exited the penalty box for a breakaway at 12:07 but DeSmith kept the score 1-1 with a sprawling pad save.
NOTES: Vancouver plays at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSCH, SN, TVAS). … Canucks forward Brock Boeser had a nine-game point streak end (14 points; nine goals, five assists). … Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, a game-time decision, missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Minnesota forward Matt Boldy had a three-game goal streak end. … Gustavsson earned his 40th NHL win and became the fourth-fastest Sweden-born goalie to reach the mark (84 games), behind only Henrik Lundqvist (70 games), Johan Holmqvist (77 games) and Pelle Lindbergh (83 games).
