Third-period comebacks are proving an impossibility for the Vancouver Canucks this season.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard had two goals and two assists as the visiting Minnesota Wild skated to a 4-2 win over the Canucks before a capacity crowd of 18,630 at General Motors Place.

Roberto Luongo is tested by Brian Rolston in a 4-2 Canucks setback.
(Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

The Wild led 2-1 heading into the final period, mindful that the Canucks were 0-16-1 when trailing through 40 minutes.

Make that 0-17-1.

By comparison, Minnesota is a remarkable 19-0-0 when taking a lead into the third.

"Bouchard, he has been playing … much better," Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire said. "Not only that he got four points, it is what he does with the puck when he has it.

"He skates, he is moving. He had an exceptional game."

Brian Rolston and Mikko Koivu had the other goals as the Wild (27-18-3) ended a modest two-game losing streak.

Niklas Backstrom posted 38 saves, including 17 in a scoreless first period.

"It was a good game for me because I got a lot of shots," he said. "It was easier to get into the game, be part of the game."

"Just the way he looked in the net, he looked confident," Lemaire noted. "He looked like he was back where he was last year."

Alex Burrows and Taylor Pyatt counted for the Canucks (25-19-5), losers of four straight games.

Roberto Luongo finished with 23 saves, but fell to 1-4-1 over his past six starts.

"Listen, I'm trying to do the best I can out there," he said. "I'm a human being like everyone else.

"It is hard to be on top of your 'A' game for 82 games. Obviously, I gave up some bad goals tonight."

It remained scoreless until Rolston swept a rebound by Luongo to the stick side for his 15th goal of the season 9:45 into the second period.

But Burrows replied 40 seconds later on a wraparound, ending a 20-game drought with his fifth. 

Bouchard restored Minnesota's lead at the 12:36 mark, faking a shot before beating Luongo to the stick side for his ninth.

Koivu finished off a 3-on-2 break to make it 4-1, ripping his seventh under the crossbar 15:35 into the third period.

Pyatt's 12th trimmed it to 4-2 at 19:32, but Bouchard tallied his second goal of the night and 10th overall into an empty net with six seconds remaining.

"Everybody was skating," Bouchard said. "We were ready.

"They're all important [games]. But you come here to Vancouver and want two points and guys were ready to play."

Vancouver is 1-5-1 in its past seven games.

With files from the Canadian Press