The Vancouver Canucks continued to play to their structure, and the puck found the back of the net as they knocked off the Minnesota Wild 4-2 at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks got a number of contributions, and many of them from the young talent on the roster. Aatu Räty had his first three-point NHL game with two goals and one assist; Tom Willander scored his first NHL goal and chipped in an assist, and defenceman Elias Pettersson scored his first goal of the season.
Head Coach Adam Foote said it’s always great to see the younger players make meaningful contributions by digging in and being tough to play against.
“Give them all credit. They played pretty; they played in the dirt, and that was probably the part that was missing consistently, and it's a great team to play against tonight,” Foote said.
“I’m challenging them a little bit to play more of a gritty game, playing the hard areas with more snap, more grit, more gristle. I mean, you look at some of the guys you're looking over there, they've got the full beards and things like that, and you got a 20-year-old, you just have to get in the dirt and realize you'll survive it.”
Foote liked the way his team fought for position, including Räty, who was also 14 of 16 off the draw, helping the Canucks to 63 percent in the faceoff circle on the evening.
Räty said staying the course is important in the ups and downs of a season and that this was an important win.
“It means a lot,” Räty said. “I think we played better than the scoreboard here [was] showing in the last few whatever games, but obviously it's a game of wins, and we got one today, so that's great.”
Willander will remember his first goal and it’s even better to get it in a win.
“Everything. It was amazing,” Willander said. “[A] big personal achievement, but helping chip into the team, getting one of these very important victories, it’s great.”
Nikita Tolopilo stopped 28 of 30 shots he faced and is now 2-1-0 on the season.
“I thought he was solid. He didn't look rattled at all. They got the early one and the guys around him were good. When rebounds dropped at him, he didn't panic. He was calm, it seemed, so I think he gave the guys some confidence there,” Foote said on his netminder.
Goals
The Wild opened the scoring in the first period with a goal from Matt Boldy, Minnesota leading the Canucks 1-0 going into the first intermission.
In the second, Tom Willander scored off the rush, Linus Karlsson carrying the puck up the left side and making a cross-ice pass to Wilander whipped a wrist shot from the point.
"Karlsson did a good job, kind of slowing it down, and I stopped out for a second, and I found the passing lane and I just tried to get it off as quickly as possible,” Willander said.
