ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Pascal Dupuis ended a prolonged slump with his first career two-goal game and Marian Gaborik collected a goal and three assists Thursday night as the Minnesota Wild pulled away for a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
By winning for just the second time in six games, Minnesota pulled within three points of first-place Vancouver, which has lost three of four.
Dupuis had just one goal in his previous 19 games but matched that total with a power-play tally late in the first period, giving the Wild a 2-0 lead. He scored again midway through the third to restore Minnesota's two-goal cushion.
During the game, Gaborik was named a reserve to the Western Conference team and will become the first member of the Wild to appear in the All-Star Game. He set up both of Dupuis' goals and another by Jeremy Stevenson before sealing the win with an empty-net tally with 2:03 to play.
Richard Park scored the other goal for Minnesota, which has split four meetings with Vancouver this season.
Trevor Letowski and Minnesota native Trent Klatt tallied for the Canucks, who have lost consecutive road games for the first time this season.
