Canucks Wrap Up Road Trip with Second Night of Back-to-Back in Minnesota

Following a wild one in Colorado on Wednesday night, the Vancouver Canucks wrap up their four-game road trip with the second night of a back-to-back in Minnesota to face the Wild. 

Thursday’s game will be the third and final matchup of the season between the Canucks and Wild. Each team has won a game against the other earlier in the season, but the two teams have not played since December 6th, when the Canucks won 4-2 at Rogers Arena. 

Brock Boeser put up his seventh career hat trick on Wednesday night in Colorado. He tied Stan Smyl for fourth in franchise history with seven in his Canucks career. Boeser is now up to 21 goals this season and has eclipsed the 20-goal plateau seven times in his time with Vancouver. 

Teddy Blueger scored his third shorthanded goal of the season last night, matching his career high from the 2020-21 season. In other penalty kill news, Liam Öhgren picked up his first shorthanded point with the primary assist on Blueger’s shorty.

Quick Hits on the Competition 

• Thursday’s game will be the first time former Canucks captain Quinn Hughes plays against Vancouver since he was traded in December. Since joining the Wild, Hughes has four goals and 45 assists for 49 points in 42 games. 

• The Wild are 44-19-12 this season and are second in the Central Division, but have gone 3-5-1 in their last nine games. 

• Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with 39 goals and 81 points this season. Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello join him on the Wild’s top line. 

• Matt Boldy is just being Kaprizov in goals; he has 38 of his own this season and leads the Wild in shorthanded tucks with four. 

• Hughes has been leading the Wild in ice time since joining them; he is averaging 28:01 per game. 

• The Wild have the third-best power play in the league, scoring on 25% of their man-advantages this season.  

• Kaprizov leads the way with 16 power play goals, while Boldy has 11 of his own. 

• Yakov Trenin leads the NHL in hits this season with 371 through 74 games. 

• The Wild are 31-6-6 when scoring the opening goal of the game and 10-15-6 when their opposition is the first to score.

The Story: Buium, Öhgren, and Rossi Return to Minnesota 

The three players acquired in the trade that sent Quinn Hughes to the Wild have performed well for the Canucks in their small sample size this season. 

20-year-old Zeev Buium is averaging 20:00 of ice time per game through 37 games with the Canucks. He is still in his rookie season and has a bright future on the Canucks defence corps.  

Marco Rossi is now up to 30 points in 42 games this season between the two teams and has brought experience and skill to the Canucks centre ice position. He has been one of the highest scoring Canucks over the past month, picking up 15 points in his last 14 games. 

The biggest glow-up of the three former Wild has been Liam Öhgren. After not registering a point in 18 games with the Wild this season, the 22-year-old has found his scoring touch with the Canucks. He has had the most five-on-five goals (8) since joining the Canucks and is second in five-on-five points (15) since December 12th. It is also worth noting that, even with the aggressive style Öhgren plays, he has only taken one penalty this season. 

Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games     

Brock Boeser: 5g-2a-7p 
Elias Pettersson: 0g-6a-6p 
Jake DeBrusk: 3g-1a-4p 
Filip Hronek: 0g-4a-4p 
Drew O’Connor: 1g-2a-3p 
Marcus Pettersson: 1g-2a-3p 

When and Where to Watch  

Thursday’s game is at 5:00 p.m. PT, and you can watch the game on Sportsnet or listen to Brendan Batchelor’s radio call on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.