Mikael Granlund hat trick lifts Wild to win

VANCOUVER-- Mikael Granlund got his first NHL hat trick to help the Minnesota Wild to a 6-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday.
Granlund, who had an assist, has five goals and 12 assists during a 12-game point streak, the longest in the NHL this season and in Wild history.
"A hat trick really doesn't happen too often," said Granlund, who played his 290th NHL game. "I don't even remember if I've ever done that, so obviously it's fun, but I'm even more glad we got the win."

WATCH: All Wild vs. Canucks highlights
Granlund reached NHL career highs of 15 goals and 48 points.
"Obviously [Mikael] is known much more as a passer than he is a shooter, but he made a lot of great plays," said linemate Jason Zucker, who had two assists. "It actually might be the first time I've seen him smile all year."
Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Mike Reilly scored, and Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves to help the Western Conference-leading Wild (34-12-5) bounce back from a 5-1 loss at the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.
Minnesota hasn't lost consecutive games since Dec. 2 and has lost two in a row in regulation once all season.
"That's where you want it to be," Zucker said. "Once you start letting it hit two and three, then all of a sudden it turns into six and seven and it's hard to get out of that sometimes."

Brandon Sutter scored twice, Bo Horvat had a goal, and Ryan Miller made 33 saves for the Canucks (23-23-6), who have lost three straight games.
"They proved why they are the top team in the West," Horvat said. "Every breakdown we had seemed to be in the back of our net. We had too many of them and we let them capitalize."
Reilly scored his first goal of the season to make it 1-0 at 13:01 of the first period. Sutter tied it 1-1 with 2:08 left in the first, but Granlund scored on a rebound with 25 seconds remaining and made it 3-1 on a shorthanded goal 4:06 into the second period.
Horvat scored on a 2-on-1 at 8:36 of the second to make it 3-2, but Parise scored on a deflection 54 seconds later to make it 4-2, and Koivu scored after a pass from Granlund with 1:41 left to put the Wild up 5-2.
Sutter batted a puck out of the air on a power play 58 seconds later to make it 5-3, but Granlund swiped a loose puck past Miller at 10:19 of the third period.
"He's a pretty special player," coach Bruce Boudreau said of Granlund.

Goal of the game

Granlund won a battle for a loose puck in his end while killing a penalty and led a 2-on-1, keeping the puck and beating Miller with a wrist shot from the top left hash mark.
"I don't remember the last time I shot on a 2-on-1, so I guess it was time to try that," Granlund said.

Save of the game

Miller slid right to left to get his arm on Zucker's one-timer after a cross-ice power-play pass 1:30 into the second period, then scrambled back to knock away the loose puck behind him.

Unsung performance of the game

Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon kept a bouncing puck in at the blue line to set up Parise's goal, and then got his second assist on Koivu's goal, finishing plus-2 in 26:38.

Highlight of the game

Granlund's assist came on a 3-on-2. He cut back into the middle to draw Miller out of his crease before passing to give Koivu an empty net from just above the goal line.

They said it

"I know he was a good player in the past but his numbers weren't quite what they are now. He can make plays. He skates, he defends. I can't say enough about him." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
"They were so relentless. The minute we were going to break down they were going to jump on us." -- Canucks coach Willie Desjardins

Need to know

Granlund passed Chicago Blackhawks forward Artem Anisimov for the longest point streak in the NHL this season. Anisimov had eight goals and nine assists during his 11-game streak Oct. 15-Nov. 6. Granlund's streak started Jan. 12. … Wild forward Alex Tuch made his NHL debut on a line with center Eric Staal and left wing Parise. Tuch played 14:39 and had two shots. … Canucks right wing Jannik Hansen had an assist playing 16:26 in his first game after missing 17 with a sprained knee.

What's next

Canucks:At the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Wild: At the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)