EDMONTON, AB (AP) – Brock Boeser and Elias Petterson each had a power-play goal and an assist, Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for his first postseason shutout, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five Stanley Cup Qualifier series yesterday.
Antoine Roussel and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks, who outlasted the Wild in another penalty-filled, extra-testy matchup and moved within one game of advancing to the first round in their first appearance in the playoffs since 2015.
The teams played 33:49 without scoring until Boeser got Vancouver going late in the second period with a falling-down backhander off the ricochet from Pettersson’s shot. Boeser, a native of Minnesota who grew up about 20 miles from the Wild’s arena, has three points in three games.
Roussel made it 2-0 just 2:18 into the third by beating Brad Hunt on a breakaway and flipping the puck over Wild goalie Alex Stalock’s left shoulder with a backhand shot.
Pettersson added the insurance goal with 1:22 left on the seventh power play of the game for the Canucks. The Wild went 0 for 7 and are 2 for 17 for the series.
The frequent whistles played to Vancouver’s advantage, putting that talented top line on the ice time after time and minimizing Minnesota’s forward depth in 5-on-5 play.
There were countless scrums, hits and shoves throughout the contest, with both Markstrom and Stalock taking a few blows around the net themselves. At one point, Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman tried to check Jay Beagle and wound up hitting teammate Carson Soucy instead midway through the second period.
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