Minnesota Wild 5
Vancouver Canucks 2
All of the Wild’s misery came to a quick halt on Monday night as they struck early and often in a 5-2 blowout win over the Vancouver Canucks to give interim head coach John Torchetti his first win.
Torchetti: "I had a lot of fun. I enjoyed it…it was all about the boys tonight…Just enjoy the moment, compete for each other." #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 16, 2016
1. Torchetti wins his debut
Torchetti’s message to the Wild on his first day on the job on Sunday was to be an aggressive offensive team. The players clearly listened as they peppered Vancouver’s goal with 34 shots on goal, including a 17-4 advantage over the Canucks in the opening period.
Torchetti caught the media’s eye before the game when he used smelling salts on the bench.
Torchetti on if he always hits the smelling salts on the bench: "Yeah, is that different? … It's my only superstition." #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 16, 2016
2. 5 different players score
Zach Parise got the scoring started with his 18th goal of the season midway through the first period and the Wild took a 2-1 lead late in the opening frame when Jared Spurgeon scored. Spurgeon was playing for the first time after missing three games with a lower-body injury. Justin Fontaine and Charlie Coyle added goals in the second period (Coyle’s on the power play) and Nino Niederreiter finished the scoring off late in the third.
3. Losing streak stopped
The win put an end to a miserable 8-game losing streak and it was just the Wild’s second victory in its last 15 games.
The Wild are now tied at 58 points with Arizona, 4 points behind Colorado for the final Wild Card in the Western Conference playoff race.
Tweet of the game
Can you celly like Parise? #BudLightCelly: https://t.co/vCnp5tpiKU @budlight pic.twitter.com/WHQ9gdSaUY
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 16, 2016
Up next: The Wild continue its three-game road trip against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night at 9 p.m.
