Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 6, Canucks 2

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 6-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Thursday night:

1. The Wild looked reinvigorated on home ice.
Minnesota was outstanding on its recent seven-game road swing, finishing 5-2-0. But as teams tend to do, languished in its first game back in front of its home fans, losing 5-2 to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.

But with a day of practice under its belts to tighten things up, Minnesota again looked sharp. Charlie Coyle scored off a breakaway 5:37 into the contest and the Wild never looked back. Mikko Koivu intercepted an outlet feed by Canucks goaltender Richard Bachman and deposited it into an open goal 2:06 after Coyle's salvo to give the Wild an early two-goal pace.

Nino Niederreiter, Staal and Matt Dumba added second-period tallies and the rout was on.

Minnesota improved to 6-1-2 at Xcel Energy Center this season, a good sign for a team that will play five of its next six games in downtown St. Paul.

2. The Canucks looked like a team on the back end of a six-game road trip.
Vancouver began its trip nine days ago in Detroit, then went to Boston, Buffalo and New York City, where it played back-to-back games against the Rangers and Islanders on Monday and Tuesday. That's a tough slog for any team, but especially one based an entire continent away.
Playing for the third time in four nights, Vancouver was sluggish, allowing two goals in the first period and three more in the second to trail 5-1 after 40 minutes. Even when Bo Horvat scored to get the Canucks on the board at 3-1, it's positive momentum lasted just 36 seconds, as Eric Staal quickly re-established the three-goal -- and eventually four-goal -- lead.
Just one of those nights for the Canucks, who finished their road trip 1-3-2.
3. Koivu continued his nice stretch of play.
Koivu assisted on two goals and scored another on Thursday and now has nine points over his past six games overall.
The captain began the night tied for third on the club with 13 points and ended it tied for second with the idle Zach Parise, who missed the game because of an illness.
Koivu's 12 assists briefly led the club, until Ryan Suter dished out helpers on Staal's and Zucker's goals to tie him for the lead.

Overall, 12 of Minnesota's 18 skaters tallied at least a point. Koivu, Staal and Suter were the only three to record multiple points in what was an ultra-balanced attack on Thursday.