ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild is the only blemish on the Vancouver Canucks’ division record.
Anton Khudobin stopped 32 shots for his first career shutout and Minnesota beat Vancouver again, 4-0 on Sunday night.
Andrew Brunette, Martin Havlat, Matt Cullen and John Madden scored for the Wild, which had been outscored 13-2 in three straight losses but managed to get the better of the Northwest Division leaders for the second time in three meetings this season.
“We’re a strange team, there’s no doubt about it,” Brunette said. “You never know what’s going to show up.”
Vancouver has been shut out in two of its last three after a 17-game unbeaten streak. The Canucks are 10-0-0 against the rest of the division.
It’s not just this season, either.
Vancouver, which plays the Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday, has lost its last four in Minnesota by a combined score of 21-6. The Wild is the first team to beat Vancouver twice in regulation this season.
“This is a great place to play, so it’s tough to put a finger on it,” Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said. “We have the same problem in Vancouver. It’s one of those things.”
Mikael Samuelsson didn’t have a good explanation either.
“There’s a lot of good teams out there, and this is one of them,” he said.
Vancouver played much of the game with just five defensemen after Andrew Alberts left midway through the first period because of a right shoulder injury. He will be re-evaluated Monday. The Canucks lost defenseman Aaron Rome for two to three weeks Friday with a knee injury.
“They did the best they could, but it’s a tough job for them,” goaltender Cory Schneider said. “We’ve been fortunate during this stretch not to lose too many guys. Now we’re starting to.”
Khudobin was recalled from Houston of the AHL on Jan. 8 after it was determined top goaltender Niklas Backstrom would be out for about another week with an injured hip.
