It was clear after their 3-0 loss in game 1 that the Canucks had to make some adjustments to their game. Vancouver coach Travis Green was forced to make some line changes, with Tyler Toffoli deemed unfit to play. The result of those changes were immediately beneficial, as the ‘Nucks dominated play for most of the game, only giving up a 4-1 lead in the third period and winning game 2 with a 4-3 final score.

Canucks vs. Wild NHL Playoff Odds

Great news for fans of the Canucks, who won’t have to stay up too late to catch their team in action in Game 3. The NHL  announced that Thursday’s game 3 will drop the puck at 2:30 p.m. ET at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

The Minnesota Wild, considered the “home team” for game 3, are currently priced as slight -113 favorites to win. The Thursday matinee game will also mark the 100th career playoff game for Minnesota’s veteran forward Zach Parise.

Vancouver Canucks

Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller were reunited on Tuesday night, and that top line was unstoppable, producing two goals and a much-improved offense from the lackluster effort in the game 1 shutout that saw Vancouver struggle to keep the puck out of their end.

That line change happened because of an injury to Tyler Toffoli (he’s been spotted wearing a walking boot) who was replaced by Boeser in Tuesday’s lineup. Boeser, Pettersson and Miller were one of the top lines in the NHL until Boeser got hurt in February and was replaced by Toffoli. Boeser talked about being reunited with his old line after the game, saying:

“It’s unfortunate with Toff, but I’m excited to get back out there with those guys. I thought we played a pretty strong game. We’ve got to clean up a few mistakes defensively, but other than that I thought we played pretty strong.”

Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson also scored for the Vancouver side, who were holding a comfortable 4-1 until late in the third period when Kevin Fiala scored twice for the Wild.  Starter Jacob Markstrom had a 32-save game for the win.

Micheal Ferland and Antoine Roussel were both injured in the Tuesday night game.

Minnesota Wild

It looked like it was going to be a dominating final score for the Canucks on Tuesday, that is until Kevin Fiala decided to make things interesting in the game’s final period.

Fiala has been a prolific scorer of late, and the two goals he scored in the third on Tuesday night gave him a total of 16 goals in his last 15 games. He’s scored three times so far in this series against the Canucks, which is now tied at a game apiece. He made the game 4-3 with less than nine seconds left to play in regulation time, giving the Wild a few moments of hope to tie things up. Luke Kunin scored the other goal for the Wild, and starting goalie Alex Stalock made 24 stops in the loss.

The Wild were unsuccessful on all six of their power play opportunities, while the Canucks capitalized on one of seven chances.

NHL Prediction: Who Will Win Canucks vs. Wild?

CANUCKS

Away

2

WILD

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