by Kevin Woodley / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
VANCOUVER — Cam Talbot won his fifth straight game to start the season, and the Minnesota Wild spoiled the Vancouver Canucks’ home opener with a 3-2 win at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.
Mats Zuccarello, Jonas Brodin and Matt Dumba scored, and Talbot made 22 saves to improve to 5-0-0 this season for the Wild (5-1-0), who bounced back from a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday.
“We talked about never losing two in a row,” Talbot said. “Coming into a tough building in their home opener, obviously they’re going to have momentum from the crowd behind them, so we established our game early, got out to a lead, which we haven’t been able to do this year, and that set the tone.”
Talbot has won his first five starts for the first time in his nine seasons in the NHL. He is the second goalie in Wild history to start 5-0-0, trailing only Manny Fernandez, who started 6-0-0 in 2002-03.
“This year was just so much easier than last year. You can come in and get comfortable before the season starts,” Talbot said. “I didn’t get a ton of exhibition time, but [I was] working with [goaltending coach Frederic Chabot] and getting all my reps in practice and making sure I was ready for Game 1.”
Alex Chiasson and Bo Horvat scored, and Thatcher Demko made 27 saves for the Canucks (3-3-1), who opened the season by going 3-2-1 on a six-game road trip that ended with consecutive wins.
“It was fun to have the fans back in the building again,” Horvat said. “When we gave them something to cheer about, they were cheering loud.”
Zuccarello gave the Wild a 1-0 lead 7:41 into the first period, scoring between Demko’s legs on a breakaway pass from Joel Eriksson Ek. It was the first time in six games this season that Minnesota scored first, and the 100th NHL point for Eriksson Ek.
“In these tight games it’s a fine line between winning and losing,” Canucks coach Travis Green said. “We turned over a couple of pucks we would like to have back. Sometimes it’s the difference between one or two mistakes in tight games. We were on the wrong end of it and didn’t create a whole lot. We better capitalize if we are not creating a lot.”
Talbot made his best save off Brock Boeser on a 2-on-1 at 9:25, sliding to his right to stop the one-timer.
“It builds momentum,” Talbot said. “I’m just trying to make those big saves whenever I get an opportunity and hold that one-goal lead.”
Brodin made it 2-0 at 2:27 of the second period by winning a battle for his own rebound at the top of the crease after his initial shot off the rush was partially blocked.
Chiasson cut it to 2-1 at 10:46 with five seconds left in a power play.
“It was a good read from [Elias Pettersson],” Chiasson said. “Special teams are a key part of the game and gave us a chance to come back.”
Dumba made it 3-1 at 3:54 of the third period, one-timing a 2-on-1 pass from Rem Pitlick, who was making his Wild debut after being claimed off waivers from the Predators on Oct. 5. Pitlick was happy to contribute after hitting the post on a breakaway coming out of the penalty box at 16:40 of the second period.
“You want to contribute a little bit just to kind of feel a part of the team and feel a part of the ‘W’,” Pitlick said. “I was a little nervous in the penalty box. It wasn’t the favorite part of my debut with the Wild, but we got the ‘W’ and that’s big.”
Horvat scored with a high backhand on a partial breakaway at 15:53 to make it 3-2.
“It felt like a playoff game, really tight,” Demko said. “It came down to a game of inches like it typically does when it’s structured that way. We were able to feed off the fans in the third and claw our way back into it. We just came up short.”
NOTES: Vancouver defenseman Tucker Poolman left the game at 7:44 of the second period with an upper body injury. Green did not have an update. … Canucks center Jason Dickinson was a late scratch with an undisclosed injury and center Justin Dowling missed his first game this season with an undisclosed injury. … Canucks forward Conor Garland had his six-game point streak to start the season end. He had scored eight points (three goals, five assists) in the run. … Forward Justin Bailey, called up from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, blocked a team-high three shots playing 10:06 in his season debut for the Canucks. … Eriksson Ek has 46 goals and 54 assists in 272 NHL games in six seasons with the Wild.