Casey DeSmith stops 26 shots as Canucks blank Wild

Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for the Vancouver Canucks in a 2-0 win against the visiting Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

It was the 10th shutout in 123 NHL starts for DeSmith. The last time DeSmith logged a shutout was a 4-0 win against the Boston Bruins on April 21, 2022, when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Nils Hoglander and Teddy Blueger scored for Vancouver, which has alternated wins and losses the past 10 games (5-5-0).

Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves for the Wild, who lost for the first time in five games since coach John Hynes was hired to replace Dean Evason on Nov. 27

The Canucks didn't register a shot on goal until 13:17 of the first period and were getting outshot 11-3 when Hoglander gave them a 1-0 lead at 18:05 of the first.

The play began with Brock Boeser making a simple clearing pass to Hoglander just inside his own blue line. He carried the puck into the Minnesota zone before weaving into the high slot and scoring with a quick wrist shot.

It was the first time the Wild had trailed since Hynes took over.

Vancouver went on its second power play at 16:16 of the second, and J.T. Miller could not convert two prime scoring chances for the Canucks. Gustavsson slid over to make a pad save on the first try, and Miller hit the post off a centering pass on the second attempt 11 seconds later.

The Canucks made it 2-0 at 2:05 of the third.

Dakota Joshua helped win the puck along the wall in the neutral zone and passed it to Conor Garland in the middle of the ice. Garland fed it ahead to Blueger, who drove toward the net, pulled the puck to his right to get Gustavsson sliding to his left and then pulled it back, leaving an open net to score his second goal of the season.

Boeser hit the post with a backhand off a breakaway with about 12 minutes left.

—Field Level Media