EDMONTON, Alberta – After a smooth start to the postseason with a sharp 3-0 win in Game 1, the Wild has a chance to push the Canucks to the brink of elimination when the puck drops on Game 2 Tuesday night (9:45 p.m., FSN) at Rogers Place in the best-of-five qualifying series.
The time for Game 3, by the way, has been set for 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Rogers Place.
Teams that go up 2-0 in a best-of-five are 55-1 all-time in the NHL, results that prove just how difficult it is to come back when falling into that deep of a hole in a short series.
Look for the Wild to utilize the same lineup; on Monday, coach Dean Evason was expecting everyone to remain available even though Sunday's effort was physically demanding.
The Wild was a wrecking ball throughout the game, hounding pucks and the Canucks. In all, the team totaled 28 hits – with Ryan Hartman's collision in the corner with Christopher Tanev one of the most memorable crunches of the game.
"We wanted to create energy by finishing checks," defenseman Jared Spurgeon said. "At the same time, we did talk about discipline. It seems like every game we've been watching there's been lots of power plays. Those can turn a game pretty quick."
Hartman was also speared while on the bench in the third period, a decision by Micheal Ferland that cost him $5,000 since he and Luke Kunin were later fined for the incident. Kunin held Ferland's stick from the bench before Ferland retaliated on Hartman, and he was leveled a $1,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct.
It'll be interesting to see if the Canucks make any tweaks to a lineup that struggled to generate quality looks against the Wild.
