Jared Spurgeon had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Monday to snap an eight-game losing streak and make interim head coach John Torchetti a winner on his debut.
Zach Parise, Justin Fontaine, Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter also scored for the Wild, who fired Mike Yeo on Saturday following a 4-2 home loss to the Boston Bruins which left Minnesota with just one victory in their past 14 games.
Erik Haula and Ryan Suter each added two assists, while Devan Dubnyk finished with 24 saves to snap an 0-6-2 slide.
Photo: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA Today
Henrik Sedin, with a goal and an assist, and Christopher Tanev scored for the Canucks, who have lost two in a row after back-to-back road wins that gave them life in the playoff hunt.
Goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 shots in the loss.
The Wild were 22-11-8 and had the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference when they beat the Stars in Dallas on Jan. 9, but then went into a free-fall that cost Yeo his job.
Leading 2-1 after the first period, Minnesota added to their lead 2 minutes, 12 seconds into the second when Haula jumped on a Vancouver turnover and passed to a wide-open Fontaine, who outwaited Markstrom for his fourth goal of the season.
Sedin got that one back when he banked a shot off Dubnyk’s stick and in on a power play from below the goal-line for his 10th to snap a 20-game drought at 10:17, but a penalty to Bo Horvat negated another Vancouver power play with the Canucks coming on and Coyle scored his 16th once Minnesota went up a man on a shot that went in off Tanev at 13:21 to make it 4-2.
Niederreiter scored his 10th on a rebound with 3:12 left in the third period as the Wild climbed within four points of the second wild-card spot, while the Canucks are six points out after a fifth straight loss (0-4-1) at home.
Promoted from Minnesota’s American Hockey League affiliate in Iowa after Yeo’s dismissal, Torchetti kept the top line of Parise, Coyle and Mikko Koivu together against Vancouver, but the other three trios were shuffled, as were two of the three defensive pairings.
The new voice and new approach paid instant dividends.
The Wild dominated the first period, outshooting Vancouver 17-4 and leading 2-1.
Parise made it 1-0 at 9:31 when he bumped Canucks defenseman Matt Bartkowski off the puck before ripping a slap-shot high over Markstrom’s glove from a tight angle for his 18th of the season.
Coming off a demoralizing 5-2 loss to Toronto at home on Saturday where they were outshot 38-19 by the lowly Maple Leafs, the Canucks got that one back on a power play with 4:31 left in the period when Tanev redirected Sedin’s pass off the rush for his third.
However, Minnesota restored their lead just 1:17 later with an unusual goal. Spurgeon, who returned to the lineup after missing three games because of injury, came down the right side and fired a shot that went off Bartkowski’s stick and fooled Markstrom over the shoulder for his seventh.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS