EDMONTON — Jared Spurgeon scored twice for the Minnesota Wild in a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks to start their qualifying series Sunday.

The Wild produced a pair of power-play goals and shut the door on Canucks shooters.

Spurgeon produced one of them, plus an empty-netter, and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Wild.

Minnesota starter Alex Stalock’s first career playoff win was a 28-save shutout. Eric Staal assisted on a pair of Wild goals.

Minnesota outshot Vancouver 30-27, didn’t give up the middle lane to the Canucks and allowed Vancouver few clean entries over the Wild’s blue-line.

The Canucks mustered just four shots on goal in the third period and none on a late power play.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Tuesday.

In the first playoff start of his nine-year career, Vancouver’s Jacob Markstrom’s stopped 28 shots in the loss.

Matt Dumba raised his fist on the Wild’s bench during both the Canadian and American national anthems Sunday.

The Regina defenceman, who is half-Filipino, explained earlier in the day he intends to do that for the rest of the NHL’s restart from the COVID-19 pandemic in homage to former Wild forward J.T. Brown.

Brown did the same during the “Star Spangled Banner” in 2017 as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning to protest police brutality and racism.

With the NHL’s blessing, Dumba made a speech at Rogers Place centre ice stressing the need for social and racial justice prior to Saturday’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks.

The Wild haven’t won a playoff series since 2015, which was also the last year the Canucks saw the post-season.

Vancouver (36-27-6) was the seventh seed in the Western Conference, while Minnesota (35-27-7) was 10th.

Minnesota led halfway through the second period when Staal fed Spurgeon a cross-ice pass from the boards.

The defenceman from Edmonton whipped a low shot under both the left leg of a diving Alex Edler and Markstrom’s left pad.  

Three seconds into an Edler tripping penalty, Fiala scored from the high slot at 2:50 of the first period.

Markstrom got a piece of Fiala’s snapshot, but not enough as the puck trickled behind him.

Parise’s assist on Fiala’s goal gave him the all-time franchise playoff record of 18. The 36-year-old Minnesotan also holds Wild playoff records in goals (14) and points (32).

Vancouver squandered a chance to go on the power play late in the first period.

Markstrom was summoned to the bench on a pending holding penalty to Parise, but a sixth Canuck prematurely jumped in the ice to negate the man advantage.

Minnesota’s power play went 2-for-4.

Vancouver’s Micheal Ferland and Minnesota’s Foligno fought less than two minutes after the opening faceoff.

Unlike Scotiabank Arena in Toronto’s Eastern Conference hub tournament, fake crowd noise isn’t pumped into Edmonton’s empty Rogers Place.

Expletives, exhortations to teammates and appeals to officials were clearly audible. One official responded “He knocked you down, you knocked him down.”

This report was first published by The Canadian Press on Aug. 2, 2020.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

EDMONTON — Minnesota Wild defenceman Matt Dumba raised his right fist for “The Star Spangled Banner” and “O Canada” prior to his team’s first game of the NHL’s restart against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday at Rogers Place.

Dumba’s action came a day after he made a speech at centre ice stressing the need for social and racial justice and then kneeled for the American anthem prior to Edmonton’s first game of the restart between the hometown Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks. Both those teams stood in a circle at centre ice for the speech and anthems.

The Regina native said earlier Sunday he made the decision to raise his fist during the anthems for the rest of the restart after talking to former Wild forward J.T. Brown, who also raised his fist for the “Star Spangled Banner” in 2017 as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning to protest police brutality and racism.

Dumba said raising a fist is a stronger sign than kneeling if he’s on the bench, as he may not be able to be seen by cameras in the latter scenario.

After the American anthem was played Saturday, Dumba stood for ‘O Canada’, a decision he says he regretted a day later.

Dumba says his home country also has systemic racism.

“I think my biggest regret is not doing it for the Canadian national anthem as well because there needs to be a lot of light that has to be shed on what it happening in Canada and the oppression First Nations people have felt here for hundreds of years,” Dumba said in a video conference with reporters earlier Sunday.

“I have First Nations and Aboriginal families that have lived it and I was disappointed looking back on it.”

Dumba, who is half Filipino, plays in a state where George Floyd, a Black man, was killed earlier this year after a white police officer kneeled on his neck.

“I kind of froze up and I know why I knelt and it wasn’t a sign of disrespect by any means. It was to shed light on the people who’ve lived through injustice and oppression, especially in my home state of Minnesota,” Dumba said.

Dumba said he got the go-ahead from the NHL midway through the week to make the speech after discussions with the Hockey Diversity Alliance.

“The feeling was just crazy, I’ve never felt anything like that,” Dumba said. “(Teammate Alex Galchenyuk) said right before, ‘if you’ve got the nerves to handle this, nothing can stop you tomorrow or on this playoff run.’

“That’s how I felt. I just wanted to attack it. Stepping out, it almost felt like I was entering the ring like I was a fighter or something, seeing everyone in a circle there.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 2, 2020.

The Canadian Press