LOS ANGELES – One game after Thomas Vanek had his 300th goal taken away by an official scoring change, nobody was denying him that milestone Thursday in the Wild's victory at Arizona.
Vanek, hours before playing the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night, said his only disappointment about having Saturday's goal against St. Louis changed to Charlie Coyle was he never got to thank the thousands of Wild fans who serenaded him with a special applause.
"That ovation is something I'll always remember," Vanek said. "I guess it's five days late, but thanks to them. It was a nice moment even though it didn't come at the time."
Asked if Thursday's goal was a more appropriate one for 300 because it was a goal scorer's goal as opposed to Saturday's bank shot off goalie Jake Allen, Vanek said, smiling, "I like garbage goals, too."
Vanek, who didn't score his second goal last season until after Thanksgiving, is off to a strong start this year. Besides the offense, his work ethic has been noticeably better. Wild coach Mike Yeo wants to reward Vanek with more ice time and opportunity "if he keeps doing those things."
"You look at what he has done so far this year, I would say it's been a big difference compared to the start of last year," Yeo said. "Five-on-five, his play has been very strong."
Vanek credits Coyle.
"Chuckie's really, he took a huge step," Vanek said. "The center's the hardest position. For him, a big power forward moving to the middle of the ice, … now he's just a beast out there and you can see how much room he creates. He opens up a lot of room for me, and I can shoot the puck again."
