The Canuck Way
Fansided

Canucks: 3 takeaways from massive 3-0 win over Minnesota Wild

By Brayden Ursel

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 06: Jacob Markstrom #25 of the Vancouver Canucks is congratulated by teammate Brock Boeser #6 after Markstrom recorded his first career shutout with the 3-0 win over the Minnesota Wild in Game Three of the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 06, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 06: Jacob Markstrom #25 of the Vancouver Canucks is congratulated by teammate Brock Boeser #6 after Markstrom recorded his first career shutout with the 3-0 win over the Minnesota Wild in Game Three of the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 06, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
Jacob Markstrom of the Vancouver Canucks is congratulated by Brock Boeser (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
Jacob Markstrom of the Vancouver Canucks is congratulated by Brock Boeser (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

The Vancouver Canucks clashed with the Minnesota Wild for a game 3 matinee that was bound to be physical. Here are three takeaways from the battle.

In recent memory, no game has been more important for the Vancouver Canucks than this one. Head coach Travis Green finds his team tied at one apiece in their play-in series versus the Minnesota Wild, and Vancouver had a massive opportunity to take a 2-1 stranglehold.

With Micheal Ferland out for the series, and Tyler Toffoli announced “unfit to play”, Green iced the same team as game 2, except that the absence of Ferland paved way for the always gritty Zack MacEwen to make his highly anticipated NHL Playoffs debut.

Games 1 and 2 consisted of brutally hard battles in front of the net, and game 2 was going to be different. The Canucks made it clear that they were going to stop at nothing to cause absolute mayhem in front of Alex Stalock and inside the blue paint. Let’s dive into three big takeaways from the pivotal game 3.

Jacob Markstrom earns his first playoff shutout

Both goalies have been good so far in this series, but in game 3 Jacob Markstrom showed everybody why he’s the better goaltender overall. The 30-year-old Swede was calm, cool, and collected while turning away oncoming pucks, and he managed to get the best of Minnesota’s scoring leader Kevin Fiala.

Four shots from the blade of the Wild’s No. 22, but none of them were quick enough to fool the good old Marky-mark. Frustrated as the game went on, Fiala put himself offside while breaking in on the rush and decided to was a good idea to give Markstrom a little shove a moment or two after the whistle.

The Canucks didn’t like what they saw happen to their MVP and immediately a herd of blue, green, and white jerseys attacked Fiala in the corner like a vicious pack of wild dogs. Markstrom, dusting himself off watched the chaos unfold with a smile. Nothing was going to beat the Canucks goaltender. Not today.

Facing a total of 27 shots in the matinee, Markstrom earned his first career NHL shutout (and it only took him three games). That’s 126 less than when he first recorded a regular-season shutout in the NHL.

Home/Editorials