DeSmith made 26 saves for his first shutout as a Vancouver Canuck.
Led by a 26-save performance from Casey Desmith, the Vancouver Canucks (17-9-1) blanked the Minnesota Wild (9-11-4) 2-0 on Thursday night. This was the Canucks third shutout of the season, with all three coming against Central Division teams. With the win, Vancouver has now alternated wins and losses in each of their last nine games.
This was the perfect example of DeSmith stealing a win for the Canucks. He was phenomenal in the first when Vancouver was outshot 14-4 and was able to control the game for the majority of the night. While he did give up rebounds, he looked solid from a positional perspective as he picked up his first shutout as a Canuck. Not only is this a great confidence booster for DeSmith himself, but also for the director of goaltending, Ian Clark and head coach Rick Tocchet, as they know they can rely on their backup, which could lead to more rest for Thatcher Demko.
While it took Vancouver's skaters a period to get going, they put together a solid final 40 minutes, shutting down the Wild's dangerous top-six forward group. From J.T. Miller's six blocked shots to Noah Juulsen's five hits, it felt like they were playing as a unit for the first time in a while. Even though they only scored twice, the final two periods were a perfect example of how Tocchet wants his team to play on a nightly basis.
Speaking of Tocchet, here is what the head coach had to say about his team's performance:
"They had some shots. We didn't really have the puck during the first ten minutes. Then, we started to go through guys, and our neutral zone was better. They had a couple of good chances. I don't look at the shot clock like you guys do. I look at chances. Yeah, they had the puck a lot, but I thought we were ok other than the fact that early on, were sleeping a little bit, but I thought the second and third, we played our game."
Overall, this is a game the Canucks can draw a lot of positives from. They got a goal from the bottom six while also killing off the one power play the Wild had. As mentioned, it may not have been a perfect win, but it was a step in the right direction for a team that has struggled defensively over the past few games.
Stats and Facts
- This is the third time this season that Nils Höglander has goals in back-to-back games
- The Canucks shutout the Wild for the first time in a regular season game since October 24, 2017
- This was the first win of the season where Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson did not record a point
- With an assist, Brock Boeser extends his point streak to six games
Game Summary
1st Period
VAN: 18:05- Nils Höglander (9th) from Brock Boeser and Tyler Myers
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
VAN: 02:05- Teddy Bleueger (2nd) from Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua
Canucks Next Opponent
Up next for Vancouver will be a Saturday night showdown versus the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes come into the game having lost three straight and would love nothing more than to break their losing streak on Hockey Night in Canada. Game time is set for 7:00 pm PT at Rogers Arena.