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Canucks win third in a row, Wild ponder situation in net

Edmonton Oilers v Minnesota Wild

ST PAUL, MN - MARCH 11: Darcy Kuemper #35 of the Minnesota Wild defends the net during the game against the Edmonton Oilers on March 11, 2014 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. The Oilers defeated the Wild 4-3 in a shootout. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Hannah Foslien

Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo was already answering questions about his team’s goaltending before Wednesday’s loss to the Vancouver Canucks, but the tone might change a little after that defeat.

Before that 5-2 defeat, it seemed like the questions came about more from an embarrassment of riches - or at least two/three solid choices - but Darcy Kuemper (pictured) and Ilya Bryzgalov had a rough night.

Kuemper was pulled after two periods in which he allowed three goals on 12 shots. Things didn’t go any better for Bryzgalov, however, as he allowed two goals on seven shots.

Minnesota generated a 31-19 shot advantage (including 15-6 in the second period), yet the Canucks took their third win in a row to keep hope alive. It’s difficult to imagine Vancouver (78 points, seven games remaining) catching Minnesota (85 points, eight games remaining), yet this improves the Canucks’ odds of catching the Phoenix Coyotes (82 points, eight games left) and Dallas Stars (79 points, nine games left) for the final wild card spot.

(It’s also worth noting that the Wild’s road ahead isn’t exactly a cakewalk.)

Burrows fights through it

If any Vancouver player deserves credit for toughness, it’s Alex Burrows.

Consider, for one, what he went through to begin the game:

If that wasn’t enough, he shook off a questionable hit by Nino Niederreiter (which earned the Wild forward a two-minute interference penalty). CJ Zero passes along a GIF of the check:

burrowsnino

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins