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Welcome back to Instant Reaction — the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to the game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below! Trent Leith is on The Stanchies and Mike Liu will have The Statsies — CA’s analytics-based post game report — up later this afternoon. 
This game began very scrambly, with the Canucks seemingly creating more of the chances to start. Ian Cole opened the scoring, tallying his second goal of the year.
Then the refs got to work. First, there was a Conor Garland high-sticking penalty, and that one was the right call. But while the Canucks were shorthanded, Elias Lindholm was called for roughing on this play to put the Canucks on a 5-on-3 penalty kill for a minute and a half.
That has to be the softest roughing penalty I’ve seen called in quite some time. The Canucks killed off the penalties, but Minnesota’s referee-manufactured-momentum kept up after the penalties expired. Eventually, the Canucks started to swing momentum back in their favour through some solid forechecking and flat-out hard work.
They were then rewarded for their efforts when Noah Juulsen got a puck through traffic that JT Miller buried to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead. And yes, on their second shot of the game, the Canucks scored their second goal of the game.
In the final minute of the opening frame, the Wild were rewarded for an overall decent period where they would have greatly benefited from just a single save from their goaltender.
In the second period, the Canucks came out firing. A strong sequence in the Minnesota zone where the Canucks continuously hemmed the Wild in while making line changes ended after Nils Höglander set up Elias Pettersson with a nifty feed that EP40 made no mistake in burying.
Then, after another power play opportunity gone by the wayside, the Canucks’ power play got on the board, with JT Miller scoring his second goal of the game.
The Wild cut the Canucks’ lead down to two after Matt Boldy found his way behind Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes:
Not to be outdone, JT Miller turned on the jets and went coast-to-coast to complete the hat-trick and give the Canucks a three-goal lead:
Conor Garland left for the room after blocking a shot with his right knee. He struggled to his feet and needed help getting off the ice. He would end up returning for the third period.
Dakota Joshua has missed just two games, but his absence has certainly been felt, as the third line’s effectiveness has certainly dipped without Joshua. If Garland had to miss any time, that would mean another huge hit to the third line, and to the Canucks’ overall lineup.
The Wild set us up for an… interesting third period after Mats Zuccarello cut the score down to 5-3 on an extended five-on-three power play:
The Canucks took two late penalties late in the second, and were down by two men yet again to start the period. And as you probably know by now, the penalty trouble proved costly for the Canucks.
First, Minnesota pulled within one almost immediately:
Just 21 seconds later, the Wild — back on a 5-on-3 power play because of a JT Miller pick over the glass penalty — tied this game up:
Of course, the referee MUST have been able to keep his eye on this puck the whole time, which obviously explains why there was no whistle on this play. Nothing to see here!
Anyways, the Canucks gave up five goals in five minutes, so I’m just going to deliver you those as swiftly as possible.
6-5 Wild:
7-5 Wild:
8-5 Wild:
This was a collapse like we’ve yet to see from this year’s team.
Nikita Zadorov cut the deficit down to two when he walked in and sniped one past Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 8-6.
The Canucks continued to press but weren’t gifted any 5-on-3 power plays or non-whistles to help them in their comeback attempt. The Canucks got just their third power play opportunity of the game with just over 5 minutes remaining as they looked to pull off the improbable. The Canucks’ PP didn’t manage to convert, but with Casey DeSmith at the bench shortly after, Quinn Hughes found Brock Boeser in the slot for a deflection goal to bring the Canucks within one with just over two minutes remaining.
The Canucks got a great look from JT Miller leaning into a one-timer, but a full-length bid toward the empty net from Jonas Brodin made it 9-7, effectively putting this one out of reach for the Canucks.
10-7 Wild final, with Minnesota scoring seven goals in the third period.
How much did Tyler Myers’ “felt like we were playing two teams” comment following the Canucks’ 4-2 loss affect today’s officiating? It’s tough to know for sure, but it’s also not hard to believe that the answer is “at least a little bit.”
What’s your instant reaction to today’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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