ST. PAUL, Minn. _ Coming home is always a relief, especially when a team opens its season with five of its first six games on the road. But as happy as the Wild were to start a long homestand Tuesday against Vancouver, they didn't want to be lured into thinking that home ice would somehow grant them special powers.
"It's a blessing, because you get to be home with your family," forward Jason Zucker said. "But you can't get complacent with it. You can't just say, 'We're going to come home here, and the crowd's going to be behind us, and we're going to win a game.' We've got to come out and battle."
The Wild got the support, but not the victory. Vancouver's Jake Virtanen scored an unassisted goal at 10 minutes, 7 seconds of the third period to push the Canucks past the Wild 1-0 before an Xcel Energy Center crowd announced at 18,694.
After a Wild turnover, Virtanen's shot from the left circle was blocked by Jared Spurgeon _ but the rebound ricocheted to Virtanen in the slot, and he slid it under goaltender Devan Dubnyk. The Wild outshot Vancouver 28-25.
The game was just the second for the Wild this season at Xcel Energy Center, and it came 10 days after the first. Like Zucker, coach Bruce Boudreau had cautioned his team against putting too much stock in the home-ice effect.
The Wild entered the game with a 2-2-2 record, earning their second victory of the season last Saturday at Calgary. They got an emotional lift from a third-period rally, allowing the team to come home feeling good about its game. But Boudreau warned the optimism would be short-lived if the Wild didn't play with discipline and consistency.
Vancouver entered the game with a 3-1 record on the road and a two-game win streak. In the first period, the Wild generated some good chances but could not score. They outshot the Canucks, 11-6, failed to score on their only power play and killed their sole penalty.
The stalemate continued through the second period, as Canucks goaltender Anders Nilsson and Dubnyk stopped every shot that came their way.
Zucker got one of the best chances of the night midway through the third. He raced into the Canucks zone, swept around the back of the net and tried to stuff the puck past Nilsson, who got his pad to the post just in time to block the shot. About 30 seconds later, Virtanen put Vancouver ahead.
