Canucks 5, Wild 0
Ryan Kesler netted a hat trick and Mason Raymond tallied twice as the Vancouver Canucks cruised to a 5-0 home victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
Roberto Luongo turned aside all 29 shots he faced for his 55th career shutout and NHL-leading 38th win of the season for Vancouver (53-19-9), which bounced back from dropping both ends of a home-and-home series against the cellar-dwelling Edmonton Oilers.
Daniel Sedin notched a pair of assists and now leads Anaheim Ducks superstar Corey Perry by five points for the league lead.
Prior to the contest, Henrik Sedin and injured Canuck Manny Malhotra posed with the Presidents' Trophy to the joy of those at the Rogers Centre. Malhotra was wearing sunglasses to protect his eye injury.
After Raymond opened the scoring at 8:12 of the first period, Kesler deflected a shot by Henrik Sedin past Niklas Backstrom with 28 seconds remaining in the session.
Kesler and Raymond tallied just 1:51 apart in the second period to extend the Canucks' lead to 4-0, before Kesler capped the hat trick at 2:18 of the third for his 40th goal of the season.
Backstrom finished with 18 saves for Minnesota (37-35-8), which has lost three in a row and 11 of its last 13.