Canucks 4, Wild 2
Ryan Kesler scored a pair of goals and fellow All-Star Daniel Sedin added a power-play tally as the league-leading Vancouver Canucks extended their winning streak to six games Monday with a 4-2 triumph over the visiting Minnesota Wild.
Raffi Torres also scored, Roberto Luongo made 33 saves and Mikael Samuelsson, Manny Malhotra and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff each notched two assists for the Canucks (46-16-9), who have won six straight home meetings with the Wild.
Captain Mikko Koivu returned from an 11-game absence because of a broken finger and recorded a goal and assist for Minnesota (35-28-7), which has been outscored 12-2 while going 0-3 on its four-game road trip.
Torres began the first-period outburst at 1:59 when he beat Niklas Backstrom from the top of the left faceoff circle for only his third goal in 35 games. Sedin doubled the lead at 8:28 with his 38th of the season and sixth during his six-game point streak.
Kesler made it 3-0 with 5:28 remaining in the session. After his initial shot from the slot was blocked, Kesler got to the loose puck and backhanded it past Backstrom.
Andrew Brunette and Koivu got the Wild within one, but Kesler completed his eighth multi-goal effort of the season with an empty-netter in the final seconds for his 36th goal.