ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild scored twice on the power play and got 22 saves from goaltender Devan Dubnyk in a 5-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center on Monday.
The victory was Minnesota's sixth straight and moved the Wild to within three points of the Canucks in the Western Conference wild-card standings for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Vancouver had the first four shots on goal, but the Wild opened scoring on their first shot, as former Canuck Jordan Schroeder capped an odd-man rush by tucking a backhander past Ryan Miller and under the crossbar at 5:05 of the first period. Schroeder, drafted by Vancouver in the first round of the 2009 NHL Draft, scored his first goal with Minnesota (26-20-6).
Jason Pominville made it 2-0 at 7:37 of the first period, capitalizing on Minnesota's first power play. Thomas Vanek controlled the puck to Miller's left and sent a backdoor pass to Pominville who shot into an open net, ending a 12-game goal drought.
Vancouver forward Zack Kassian capped a quick rush at 10:18, beating Dubnyk low along the ice to pull Vancouver within a goal at 2-1, but a turnover in the neutral zone ended up on the stick of Minnesota forward Nino Niederreiter, who worked a give-and-go with Mikko Koivu, sending a one-timer in the slot past Miller at 15:37, giving the Wild a 3-1 lead after one period.
The Canucks (29-20-3) got a goal early in the second when forward Shawn Matthias scooped up a loose puck near the left post and shot into an open net at 1:11 for his 10th goal.
Minnesota's power play came through again at 7:05 when defenseman Ryan Suter's slap shot got through a Zach Parise screen in front for his second goal of the season and first since opening night.
Kyle Brodziak scored from the right face-off dot less than a minute later to send Miller to the bench. Eddie Lack finished with 14 saves in relief of Miller.
Ryan Stanton scored with 2:03 left on a tip-in of a Daniel Sedin shot from the right point.
The Wild played much of the game with 10 forwards after Ryan Carter and Jason Zucker each went down with an injury in the first period. Eight of the 10 forwards had at least one point, including Koivu, who finished with three assists. Suter had a goal and an assist.
Canucks forward Nick Bonino left the game on Suter's goal after blocking an initial shot from the point and crumpling to the ice. The puck went right back to Suter who scored on the next shot.
Dubnyk improved to 8-1-0 since being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 14. The goal allowed to Kassian in the first period ended his shutout streak at 136:57.
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