Vancouver Canucks Gameday Preview #13: Keeping The Effort Going Against The Minnesota Wild
With nine players missing from their lineup, the Vancouver Canucks (6–6–0) did the near-unthinkable and defeated the St. Louis Blues 4–3 in a shootout on Thursday night. Tonight, they’ll look to continue this stretch of resilient play in a matchup against the slumping Minnesota Wild (3–6–3). The Wild have lost their past five games, surrendering at least four goals in each loss.
As mentioned, Vancouver is coming off a game that saw their lineup get even more depleted, as Brock Boeser was the latest Canuck to be sidelined due to injury after accidentally blocking a shot from Elias Pettersson (D). After the game, Canucks head coach Adam Foote had noted that Boeser “should be back next game.” The Canucks forward was a full participant in practice on Friday and looks primed to join Vancouver tonight against his hometown team.
While Thursday’s game was definitely a gutsy win, it was also another example of Vancouver’s less-than-stellar penalty kill, which is currently operating at a success rate of 71.4%. While they did go a perfect 3-for-3 on Tuesday night, they also surrendered five power play goals against in the other three of their past four games, two of which resulted in a PK success rate of only 33%.
Vancouver will want to come to the rink on Saturday with their best PK effort, as Minnesota’s power play is currently near the top of the league with a success rate of 29.2%. This power play’s success comes partially in-part due to the red-hot Kirill Kaprizov, who has four goals and four assists on the power play in 63:48 spent on the man-advantage. He’s followed closely by forward Matt Boldy, who has three power play goals and three power play assists in just over an hour spent on the man-advantage.
Players To Watch:
Kiefer Sherwood
Picking Sherwood as a player to watch feels like cheating at this point, as he’s been one of a couple consistent players who have found success this season. He’s coming off scoring his second career hat-trick in the NHL on Thursday night and is now tied for the league lead in goals scored this season with nine. With so many holes in the Canucks’ lineup, it’s players like Sherwood who will be asked to step-up offensively while continuing playing solidly defensively, and so far, Sherwood has delivered. It’ll be interesting to see how he builds on his performance from Thursday night.
Kirill Kaprizov
Despite his team’s shortcomings as of late, Kaprizov has continued to play impressively. The forward is currently riding a four-game point streak in which he has two goals and four assists. He also leads his team in minutes played for a forward (270:22), with the only other skater having more than him being defenceman Brock Faber (275:04).
Vancouver Canucks (6–6–0):
Points:
Conor Garland: 3–8–11
Kiefer Sherwood: 9–0–9
Elias Pettersson: 3–5–8
Quinn Hughes: 1–6–7
Brock Boeser: 4–2–6
Goaltenders:
Thatcher Demko: 4–3–0
Kevin Lankinen: 2–3–0
Minnesota Wild (3–6–3):
Points:
Kirill Kaprizov: 7–9–16
Matt Boldy: 5–7–12
Marco Rossi: 2–9–11
Marcus Johansson: 5–4–9
Zeev Buium: 2–6–8
Goaltenders:
Filip Gustavsson: 2–6–1
Jesper Wallstedt: 1–0–2
Game Information:
Start time: 4:00 pm PT
Venue: Grand Casino Arena
Television: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
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