Minnesota Wild win record-filled 10-7 victory over Vancouver Canucks
![Canucks at Minnesota Wild Minnesota Wild centre Joel Eriksson Ek, middle, reacts as members of the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild compete for the puck in front of the net during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/2/19/canucks-at-minnesota-wild-1-6775523-1708397028509.jpeg)
Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each had hat tricks and tied the franchise record with six points for the Minnesota Wild, who faced a three-goal deficit in the second period before storming back with six unanswered goals in a record-filled 10-7 victory over the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks on Monday.
“You could feel the way we were engaged in the game that there was no letdown," Wild coach John Hynes said. "Whether it was 4-1 or 5-2, the mindset was still the same.”
Minnesota's six scores in a span of 5:45 was the fastest such flurry in the NHL in 25 years, since Washington had six goals in 4:47 in a 10-1 win against Tampa Bay on Feb. 3, 1999.
Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov each had three assists.
Matt Boldy, Mats Zuccarello, Marco Rossi and Jonas Brodin also scored for the Wild, who set franchise goal records for a single game and a single period with seven scores in the third. They also registered their fastest four-goal stretch in team history, all on the power play in a span of 2:17 to take a 6-5 lead early in the third period.
Zuccarello scored on a 5-on-3 with 27 seconds left in the second period. The Wild switched goalies at the intermission from Filip Gustavsson to Marc-Andre Fleury and then they let loose as the sloppy and sluggish Canucks squandered a hat trick by J.T. Miller.
Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov each scored on a 5-on-3 sandwiched around a delay-of-game penalty on Miller. Then Eriksson Ek scored again 5-on-4 to make it 6-5 just 1:44 into the third period. Rossi knocked in Jake Lucchini's shot off his skate at 4:48 and Kaprizov tacked on another one at 5:12 to further the damage done to Canucks backup goalie Casey DeSmith's statistics.
With Vancouver playing the first half of a back-to-back set of games, coach Rick Tocchet chose to keep primary netminder Thatcher Demko on the bench to rest.
“Even when they went up 7-5, 8-5, we still felt pretty comfortable,” Miller said. “At least our line, we were just in their zone every shift, and I think we felt like we had one of those nights where we could tie it up. Just such a weird game.”
Elias Pettersson got his team-leading 29th goal and Ian Cole had the first goal for the Canucks, who scored on their only two shots on net over the first 15-plus minutes of the game against Gustavsson.
The Canucks (37-14-6) took seven penalties and lost their second straight game. They fell to 28-7-2 when scoring first. Nikita Zadorov and Brock Boeser scored in the third period, cutting the lead to 8-7 with 2:08 to go, before the Wild tacked on two empty-netters.
“It’s actually stupid stick penalties you can’t do, and we've got to learn,” Tocchet said. “When you play under pressure, you cannot do those things.”
With Miller, Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov each scoring three goals, this was the first regular season game with three hat tricks since Nov. 8, 1992, when Mike Donnelly, Luc Robitaille and Jari Kurri all got one for Los Angeles in an 11-4 win over San Jose.
The 16 total goals was the most in any game the Wild have played in.
“Stressful. Very stressful,” center Ryan Hartman said. “But fun.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979388.1722030190!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Celine Dion delivers stirring comeback performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Against the rainy Paris night sky, Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career with a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower to open the Olympic Games.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before residents can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes 'for several weeks.'
Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in creek in Mississauga: police
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Peel police say.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn for $146,000 water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six-figure water bill.
Turpel-Lafond won't sue CBC over Cree heritage report that took 'heavy toll': lawyer
The lawyer for a former judge whose claims to be Cree were questioned in a CBC investigation says his client is not considering legal action against the broadcaster after the Law Society of British Columbia this week backed her claims of Indigenous heritage.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Major Canadian bank experiences direct deposit outage on payday
Scotiabank says it has fixed a technical issue that impacted direct deposits on Friday morning.
Health Canada warns some naloxone kits contain false instructions
Health Canada is warning some take-home naloxone kits come with bad instructions that should be ignored in favour of the correct guidance.