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Wild’s fight to enter playoff position stalled by Canucks

Alex Biega

Alex Biega

Jeff Vinnick

The Minnesota Wild have gone from a long shot to make the playoffs just a month ago to a legitimate contender with their 10-1-2 stretch. Thanks to that run they are nearly in a playoff position, but they weren’t able to capitalize on a key opportunity tonight. Instead, Vancouver fought the rising Wild back with its 3-2 victory.

The contest was tied through 40 minutes, but Canucks rookie forward Bo Horvat broke the stalemate just 1:33 minutes into the third. Defenseman Alex Biega, provided the Canucks with some insurance by scoring in his NHL debut:

“I’m not really sure what warranted the celebration in my face,” Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk said of Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows, per the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo. “I guess that’s the way he wants to do it.”

Wild forward Nino Niederreiter netted his 18th goal of the 2014-15 campaign less than two minutes later, but that proved to be too little, too late.

Had the Wild won tonight, they would have been tied with Vancouver in terms of points at 65, although Vancouver would have still had possession of the second Wild Card spot because they have the edge in ROW (regulation plus overtime wins). Instead, the Canucks kept pace with Calgary to maintain their hold on second place in the tight Pacific Division.

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