Oct 25, 20213 min read

Canucks VS Wild Gameday Preview (Oct 26)

By: Ben Chubb

Chris Tanev scored 11 seconds into OT, The Canucks Eliminate the Wild

Welcome Home

Welcoming our Canucks back to Rogers Arena for the first time since March 10, 2020, is the currently surging Minnesota Wild.

The last time Vancouver faced Minnesota was in the 2020 playoff bubble in Edmonton, where the Canucks defeated the wild 5-4 in the qualifier to advance to play the St. Louis Blues after taking the series 3-1. Former Canuck Chris Tanev scored the game winning goal 11 seconds into OT.

Minnesota was a playoff team last season but lost in seven games to Vegas.

Fans are going to be packing rogers arena for a regular season game for the first time since defeating the New York Islanders 5-4 in a shootout on March 10, 2020. Tickets to the home opener are currently going for bargain prices (and going very fast) so make sure you're in attendance for this must-see game.

Fans at Rogers Arena during the pre-season

Previous Games

The Vancouver Canucks are returning from their 6 game road trip after a respectable 3-2-1 record. Our last game saw the Canucks defeat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 and spoil the home opener party for Kraken fans. The Canucks have now won their past two games, looking to make it three in a row.

The Minnesota Wild are currently 4-1 on the season, but coming off their first loss of the season after being defeated by the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Sunday Night.

Key Points

Minnesota has surrendered a powerplay goal in each of their first 5 games so far this young season.
Minnesota has surrendered the first goal in each of their wins so far this season.
Quinn Hughes currently ranks 5th in the league in TOI at 29:09 / game average.
The Minnesota Wild are 12-5 in its past 17 games following a loss of 3 goals or more.

Minnesota Players to watch

Kirill Kaprizov - (Currently 0G, 5A in 5GP)

expect last years Calder trophy winner to come out and play hard tonight, he's currently looking for his first goal of the season. managing a point/game pace so far in this early season, the Canucks need to shut down this skilled young forward.

Mats Zuccarello (Currently 2G, 4A in 5GP)

The former New York Rangers veteran can surprise a lot of teams. he has been known to score in bunches rather than consistently, putting up 4 points (2G, 2A) against the Jets last Tuesday night. He currently leads the Wild with 6 points.

Canucks Keys to winning

Bo Horvat needs to stay hot going into this 7 Game home stand. He has 3 Goals in his last 3 games and will be a major contributing factor for our power play & Face-Off Percentage. Horvat currently leads all players in the league with Face-Offs won with 76.

Thatcher Demko played nothing short of spectacular in Seattle on Saturday night, making 29/31 saves and posting a .935 SV%, Including this phenomenal goal-line save.

There were MANY more highlight reel saves in the Seattle game from the young Canucks star goaltender.

Conor Garland has been arguably the best Canucks player in the first 6 games of the season, registering 3 Goals and 5 Assists, which ties him with J.T. Miller for most points (8) on the team. he will be a major asset coming into this game. Expect Minnesota to try to counter the speedy/skilled forward (good luck fellas).

Capitalize on Minnesota's weak Penalty Kill. The Wild are among the leagues worst in PK% with 69.6% (28th). Bo Horvat scored on the power play last game. Currently, Vancouver ranks 14th in the league in PP% at 21.7%. This needs to be a lot better due to the firepower the Vancouver Canucks currently have on their first unit powerplay. Once Boeser and Pettersson get their shots going, watch out.

Current Odds

Puck Line -

Vancouver Canucks -1.5

Minnesota Wild +1.5

Team to win -

Vancouver Canucks +100

Minnesota Wild -118

My Predictions