ST. PAUL, Minn. — Thatcher Demko’s glove sprung a leak in the third period Saturday night, and it led to a huge sigh of relief for a Minnesota Wild team desperate to experience the feeling of victory once again.
It took until the fifth game of this six-game homestand that ends Tuesday night against Nashville for the Wild to get their first win. For a change, they never trailed, were perfect on the penalty kill and looked dominant on home ice during a 5-2 win over the injury-riddled Vancouver Canucks.
Not only did the Wild win for the first time in regulation at home, but the victory snapped a five-game winless skid since Oct. 20. It was the Wild’s second win in the past 10 games (2-5-3).
“You’ve got to fake it ‘til you make it, so (a) little nervous during the third period (after Vancouver cut the deficit to 4-2),” goalie Filip Gustavsson said. You know, maybe not the goal you want to give up. And we didn’t stop playing after that either. We just kept going even though they got within two again.”
The Wild improved to 13-2 in their past 15 meetings with the Canucks and handed them an eighth straight loss at Grand Casino Arena.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored a goal and two assists for his first three-point game with the Wild. Jonas Brodin and Vinnie Hinostroza scored a goal and an assist each, Marco Rossi scored a go-ahead goal in the second period after the Canucks tied the score at 1, Ryan Hartman scored an empty-net goal, Joel Eriksson Ek had two assists and Gustavsson made 26 saves for his third win in 10 starts this season.
Hinostroza coast to coast pic.twitter.com/SXuBbVRInF
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 2, 2025
“Obviously that stretch we went through it’s tough, but this is a new month,” said Hinostroza, who went coast to coast for his first goal of the season and eventual winner. “We’re 1-0 in this month. If we just stick to it, we can turn this whole thing around. But it’s going to take a lot of hard work and sticking to the plan.”
The Wild extended their lead from 2-1 to 4-1 with two quick goals by Hinostroza and Brodin early in the third. Demko skated right to the bench after Brodin’s and changed gloves.
the smiles say it all 😃 pic.twitter.com/llV1JqAqOp
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 2, 2025
Tarasenko breaks out
It has been a slow start to Tarasenko’s Wild career, but after entering Saturday’s game with a goal and four assists in 12 games, Tarasenko scored the Wild’s league-leading 15th power-play goal and assisted on goals by Rossi and Brodin.
The power-play goal was filthy, but it came after Eriksson Ek’s even filthier backhanded pass with a bat out of mid-air off the heel of his stick.
Eriksson-Ek bats the puck to Tarasenko who finishes it off in close 😮💨
pic.twitter.com/eiyRrDXzE9
— Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) November 2, 2025
“I don’t think I ever see anything like that,” Tarasenko said. “But I’m not gonna lie, it’s nice getting goals, but nicer when team win.”
The Wild hope this is the type of game that can give Tarasenko a jumpstart.
“I think anytime a point-producing player like him can have a game like this and get up and running and more confidence and feeling good about that aspect of the game is always positive,” coach John Hynes said.
PK, faceoffs, physicality strong
The Wild held a players’ only meeting before Friday’s practice to get back on the same page and start playing with a more hard-nosed identity.
Against the Canucks, the Wild’s league-worst penalty kill (which had given goals on five of the previous six opposing power plays) went 3 for 3 in large part because of big blocks by Brodin, Matt Boldy and Rossi and Gustavsson making five saves. They had 26 hits, led by Rossi’s four. They also won 51 percent of their faceoffs (29 of 57), including Rossi scoring off Tarasenko’s rebound after Rossi won a draw clean on the first shift of Hynes juggling his lines by skating Kirill Kaprizov with Eriksson Ek and Boldy and Rossi with Tarasenko and Marcus Johansson.
“We’ve been battling the last couple games, maybe didn’t (go) our way,” Rossi said. “But I think today we played a really good game. Our puck bounces the last couple games wasn’t really on our side. And the puck bounces today was on our side, and I think that makes a huge difference. I think the PK was good, power play was good and five-on-five as well.”
Marco Rossi. 2-1 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/epwpvnrE5u
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) November 2, 2025
Gustavsson stands tall
When a team goes through a bad stretch like this, there’s always going to be more pressure — and scrutiny — on the goaltender. And that includes the Wild’s No. 1 Gustavsson, who entered Saturday with just two wins in his first nine starts of the season. But Gustavsson came through in Saturday’s slump-busting win, stopping 26 of 28 shots.
“I thought Gus made some big saves for us,” Hynes said.
Gustavsson admitted there’s a different feeling when you score first and have a lead, which helped Saturday when they led throughout (the Wild have trailed more than any other team other than the Bruins heading into Saturday’s game).
“Even from me, it’s less stressing about the next shot every time,” Gustavsson said. Gustavsson said Drew O’Connor’s goal in the third period, which cut the Wild’s lead to 4-2, was “not the goal you want to give up,” but he closed it out from there.
This was an encouraging performance by Gustavsson. If the Wild are going to emerge from this slide, they’ll need better goaltending overall from Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt. Coming into the game, the Wild’s goals saved above expected by the duo was combined -4.99, with their opponents 11.11. Their opponents’ save percentage was .931, to the Wild’s .880.
He gave up a first-period tying goal to O’Connor with a juicy rebound he said he should have controlled better, but rookie Zeev Buium’s bad pass to Tarasenko was turned over, and then Buium didn’t sort things out on the backcheck and left O’Connor wide open.
🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨
Drew O’Connor scores his first goal of the season and MacKenzie MacEachern pick up his first point as a Vancouver Canuck!
🎥: Sportsnet | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/8dcTHhIbpc
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 2, 2025
Zuccarello’s return getting closer
Mats Zuccarello, who reported to camp hurt and subsequently underwent surgery, is closing in on a return. He continues to practice daily and coach John Hynes said Friday his return could come “in a week or so.”
Hynes didn’t want to commit to Zuccarello returning this week because he’s on a strict timeline, but Zuccarello is clearly getting anxious to return.
His loss has been felt everywhere. First, he’s not on the No. 1 power-play unit. Second, he has uncanny chemistry with Kirill Kaprizov and can make plays offensively that others can’t. Third, there will be a trickle-down effect to get players in more appropriate sports in the lineup. Fourth, in tough times, like the Wild have had this year, he’s a respected and willing voice in the locker room.
Mats Zuccarello getting closer. Hynes said yesterday the veteran winger is a “week or so” away. #mnwild. pic.twitter.com/NuZZQUi6Xv
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) November 1, 2025
Yurov takes a seat
The one change to the Wild lineup for Saturday’s game was Danila Yurov being out.
It wasn’t injury-related, even though Yurov took a shot to the ribs in Thursday’s game. It wasn’t punitive, either.
Hynes indicated it was a chance to give Yurov a reset and switch things up to give them a boost in the faceoff circle. Yurov has played in every game since being scratched in the first two, and he’s got one point (a winning goal at New York) in 10 games. He’s made progress overall, but one area he’s still working on is faceoffs, where he is at 38.5 percent (20 for 52).
With the Wild getting dominated in the dot in Thursday’s loss, Hynes elected to put Ben Jones in there to center the fourth line. Jones entered Saturday with a 71-percent clip in faceoffs (10-for-14). Hynes met with Yurov about the decision and the rookie understood that this might happen from time to time in his first year in a transition from the KHL.
The Yakov Trenin-Jones-Tyler Pitlick played well. They brought energy, some chances and Jones went 6 for 9 in the circle and drew a penalty.