The Vancouver Canucks wrap up their homestand Sunday evening with a highly anticipated matchup against the Minnesota Wild.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki had a two-point game on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings. He scored his fourth goal of the season and added his fifth assist. Lekkerimäki is up to nine points through 12 games and is riding a three-game point streak going into Sunday night.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Wild enter their Saturday night game in Seattle with a 6-3-2 record before travelling up to face the Canucks on Sunday.
- Sunday will be the fourth game of their five-game road trip that began with an overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers and a regulation loss to the Calgary Flames.
- Kirill Kaprizov has been outstanding for the Wild early in the season. He has 11 goals through 11 games played and has scored eight of those goals at even strength.
- Matt Boldy is playing alongside Kaprizov on the Wild’s top line, and he leads the team with 51 shots on net.
- Quinn Hughes averages 27:25 of ice time per game. He has two goals and 11 assists.
- Yakov Trenin has been one of the league’s most physical players over the past few years. He has 51 hits this season.
- Jesper Wallstedt is starting between the pipes for the Wild on Saturday in Seattle. That means Calvin Pickard is likely to make just his second start of the season on Sunday in Vancouver.
The Story: Guess Hughes Back in Town
Former Canuck Quinn Hughes returns to Vancouver to face the Canucks for the first time since being traded last season. There’ll be a lot of emotion in the crowd, and it makes Rogers Arena the place to be on Sunday night.
Hughes played 459 games as a Canuck and was named the captain at the beginning of the 2023-24 season.
Head Coach Manny Malhotra said the crowd’s emotion is something his players can build on.
“We obviously need to give them something to cheer about, and we’ve seen it firsthand. When the fans are into the game and when we get them on our side early, that can be a major advantage for us,” said Malhotra.
Malhotra says he hasn’t given much thought about the crowd’s reaction to Hughes returning to Vancouver. He did speak about how the Canucks will try to limit Hughes’ offensive abilities.
“Defensively, it’s all about taking away time and space. He does a great job of manipulating that and creating pockets where there doesn’t seem to be pockets,” said Malhotra. “We want to defend in layers, make sure we have an extra layer behind if he does beat somebody.”
Zeev Buium, Liam Öhgren, and Marco Rossi are in action against the team that drafted them, and Öhgren spoke about how he is excited to get back into the Canucks' lineup against his former club following being a scratch on Thursday.
“They made my dream come true to get drafted, and I played my first game in the NHL. It’s special to play against them. And it’ll be a fun game. It’ll be fun to see Quinn back in Vancouver,” said Öhgren.
Canucks' Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Jonathan Lekkerimäki: 2g-2a-4p
Elias Pettersson: 2g-2a-4p
Brock Boeser: 1g-3a-4p
Linus Karlsson: 2g-1a-3p
Arshdeep Bains: 1g-1a-2p
Max Sasson: 1g-1a-2p
When and Where to Watch
Sunday’s game starts at 7:00 p.m. PT, and you can watch on Sportsnet or listen to Brendan Batchelor’s radio call on KiSS West Coast.
