The Canucks Tame The Wild 3-2 in Minnesota

Don’t let the scoreline confuse you, in between the five goals in this game was a whole lot of boring hockey. But what happened on the scoreboard is a good thing for Canucks fans. Of course, the 3-2 win is enough to warm your heart on this cold Wednesday night, but Radim Vrbata notched two goals for the Canucks, finally breaking out of his slump and showing glimpses of the form he possessed for the majority of the 2014-15 campaign. 

It was another lackluster affair between these two squads, which for some reason even though the personnel has turned over so much, these two teams haven’t seemed to provide an entertaining hockey game since the days of Wes Walz and Manny Fernandez. (The glory days.) 

As mentioned before, Radim Vrbata looked like the player the Canucks thought they were going to have when they signed him to a two year deal two summers ago. To the optimistic Canucks fans who are still holding out hope for a playoff berth, this is the kind of player you hope you have to keep rallying the team and help sustain their charge in the division. To the rest of the Canucks fans who at this point are too numb for optimism, this is the player you want to see when you get to the point of dealing him either now or at the deadline for assets. 

That final few minutes was just a disaster all around. The Canucks were practically begging Minnesota to notch a couple goals in the dying minutes, but the Wild didn’t bite until it was too late. But the Canucks really did anything to let them in it. And there were moments you just didn’t know how the puck stayed out. But perhaps that’s just the puck luck the Canucks needed for a change, as it seemed all the bounces were going the other way. 

It’s not part of the Canucks/Wild affair, but this photo of Comets prospect Joseph Labate is really the ugliest you’re gonna see tonight. Labate followed up his first career goal with a bloody rumble with Sam Morin of the Flyers affiliate in Leigh Valley (Real place.)

Here’s another shot of it:

It wasn’t pretty. You won’t print this out and frame it and give it to the Canucks fan in your family this holiday season. But it was a big win for the confidence of this squad, and as Thomas Drance points out, the next one against Dallas could be even more important.