Canucks sink Wild late, sit in second wild-card spot

Kiefer Sherwood's tiebreaking goal late in the third period helped give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-1 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Friday.

Brock Faber's power-play equalizer made it a 1-1 game at 7:12 of the third, but the Canucks answered just over nine minutes later. Filip Hronek sent a nice pass to a wide-open Sherwood at the side of the Wild's net, and Sherwood converted the game-winner.

Vancouver is on a two-game winning streak, despite missing points leader Quinn Hughes for both games. The star defenseman is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

Elias Pettersson and Teddy Blueger scored for the Canucks, while Hronek had two assists.

Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen had an outstanding game, stopping 37 of 38 shots to earn his 22nd win of the season.

Minnesota lost despite a 38-20 shots advantage. Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 17 of 19 shots.

The Canucks have a six-game point streak (5-0-1) on home ice. Despite the loss, the Wild still lead the NHL with 47 road points with a 22-10-3 away record.

The result put both teams into Western Conference wild-card positions. The Wild dropped from third place in the Central Division into the top wild-card spot, while the Canucks leapfrogged the Calgary Flames into the second slot.

Pettersson opened the scoring with a power-play tally at 16:14 of the first period. Setting up beyond the circle, Pettersson blasted a one-timer into the net, ending his personal 15-game goal drought.

Neither club scored during the second period, as Gustavsson and Lankinen each made several big saves. Both teams also had plenty of chances that missed the net or were deflected away, plus the Wild's Gustav Nyquist hit the post in the period's final minute.

The Wild finally solved Lankinen 7:12 into the third. Tyler Myers broke his stick while trying to clear the puck, leading to a nice Wild passing play that Faber finished with a booming shot from the slot.

After Sherwood's go-ahead tally, Blueger sealed Vancouver's win with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

--Field Level Media