Wild slip late against Canucks, take a hit in the Western Conference standings

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 8, 2025

Published in Hockey

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Considering the distance between the Minnesota Wild and the teams they’re trailing in the Central Division — rivals who also just bolstered their rosters by the NHL trade deadline — they might want to be more mindful of who’s chasing them.

The Wild had a chance to widen that lead Friday night but blew it, losing 3-1 to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena to tighten the playoff race in the Western Conference.

Vancouver, which entered the game on the outside looking in, took over the final wild-card berth, and the Canucks’ 69 points are only seven shy of the Wild’s 76.

They actually dropped to the first wild-card spot, with Colorado moving into third in the Central, because the Avalanche (same points) have more regulation wins.

Kiefer Sherwood broke a 1-1 tie with 3 minutes, 45 seconds to go after a Brock Faber equalizer earlier in the third period.

Vancouver withstood a handful of close calls in the first period.

During a fast start with few whistles, the Wild dominated the puck and were a handful for Vancouver in the offensive zone; goalie Kevin Lankinen made saves but not stops, with shots bouncing off him to fuel the Wild’s pressure.

Not even a hooking penalty by Devin Shore interrupted the Wild’s pace, as they easily denied the Canucks’ first power play.

But they didn’t overcome another infraction only 36 seconds after they were back to full strength, this time against Zach Bogosian for holding.

That’s when Elias Pettersson hurled a one-timer through traffic at 16:14 by Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson after not scoring for 15 games.

During the second period, Gustavsson came up clutch during another Vancouver power play, twice stymieing Conor Garland — including at the back post.

Then on their second power play, the Wild responded 7:12 into the third period when Marco Rossi (who had two attempts blocked by Lankinen) set up Faber for a one-timer that flew by Lankinen.

But that momentum didn’t lead to another Wild goal.

Instead, a wide-open Sherwood settled the puck at the back post and wired a shot by Gustavsson for the final go-ahead goal. Teddy Blueger added an empty-netter with 54 seconds remaining.

Gustavsson finished with 17 saves, while Lankinen had 37.

Justin Brazeau, acquired by the Wild on Thursday night from Boston for forwards Jakub Lauko and Marat Khusnutdinov and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick, arrived in Vancouver in time to make his team debut.

Brazeau played on the fourth line with Shore and Yakov Trenin, skating 7:11, dishing out two hits and blocking one shot.

Aside from a minor league deal that sent forward Reese Johnson to Toronto for future considerations, the Wild didn’t make any other trades before Friday’s 2 p.m. Central time deadline. But their competition did.

Winnipeg, which is atop the NHL and Central Division with 92 points, added defenseman Luke Schenn and winger Brandon Tanev. Dallas, which is ahead of the Wild by eight points, secured Mikko Rantanen from Carolina and signed him to an eight-year, $96 million contract extension.

As for Colorado, the Avalanche retooled their forward group with Charlie Coyle and Brock Nelson.

The Wild’s lineup should still change, once Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin heal their injuries. But in the meantime, this is their team, and Wild came up just short in their first test since getting that confirmation.