Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild: Top 3 takeaways from Game 3
For the second straight game, the Vancouver Canucks had a dominant effort against the Minnesota Wild. Here are three takeaways from Game 3.
After splitting the first two games of their Stanley Cup Playoffs play-in series, the Vancouver Canucks were able to get a stranglehold on the Minnesota Wild, winning Game 3 2-0 to grab a 2-1 series lead.
The young Canucks have looked like the better team for the past 120 minutes. Since a 3-0 shutout in Game 1, Vancouver has outscored Minnesota 6-3.
They’ll go back at it in a potential elimination game for the Wild on Friday at 10:45 p.m. EST. But let’s take a look back at Game 3 and see what the top three takeaways from a spirited effort for both teams were.
1. Power(less) Plays
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
Though the Canucks got their first goal and third goal via the power play, the two teams combined for 14 opportunities on the man advantage and only mustered two goals. Part of that is due to the outstanding penalty killing from both teams. Also, both goalies were excellent while shorthanded.
But this just goes to show how important even strength offense is. Sometimes, your power play is going to struggle. You can’t count on your power play to bail you out because you never know when you’re going to get another power play.
Historically, even strength offense is something that has led to championships. Occasionally, you get a really good power play like the Boston Bruins from last year, and that can carry you to the Stanley Cup Final. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to score at even strength too.
In Game 3, the Canucks were able to score at even strength. It wasn’t pretty and it came from a very unexpected source (Antoine Roussel, who entering Thursday, had just two goals and five points in 21 postseason games). But the Canucks were able to create chances at even strength and even got a goal there. The Wild didn’t and, much like Game 2, that ultimately influenced the game.