Wild Warmup: Minnesota at Vancouver

The essentials

VANCOUVER -- Following a lengthy stretch of games on home ice, the Wild begins a three-game road trip through Western Canada on Tuesday when it faces the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.
Tuesday's meeting marks the third and final game of the season between the teams, with each club winning its previous matchup on home ice.
The Canucks won 5-2 at Rogers Arena on Oct. 29, thanks to a pair of goals from rookie forward Elias Pettersson. Markus Granlund, Jake Virtanen and Ben Hutton also scored goals and goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves, as the Wild lost the first game of a seven-game stretch on the road.

Minnesota avenged the loss a little more than two weeks later, winning 6-2 in St. Paul on Nov. 15. Mikko Koivu had one goal and two assists and Matt Dumba and Ryan Suter each had two-point nights. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves in the win.
The game Tuesday is the fourth of a five-game homestand for the Canucks. Vancouver is 0-2-1 so far, losing by one goal in all three contests, including a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars its last time out on Saturday night.
Bo Horvat is the club's offensive leader this season, posting 25 points, three more than Pettersson, who leads the team with 13 goals. Brock Boeser returned from a lower-body injury last week and scored a pair of goals in a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights last Thursday.
Markstrom has started 20 games this season, posting an 8-9-3 record with a 3.31 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage.

Oh Canada

Minnesota heads west Tuesday to begin a three-game Canadian road trip and continue a stretch of five consecutive games against a team from Canada.
The five-game stretch against a Canadian opponent marks the first time in franchise history the Wild will face five different Canadian teams in a row. The five-game stretch also marks the fourth time in team history Minnesota has played five straight against a Canadian opponent:
From Nov. 23 through Dec. 15, Minnesota plays a Canadian opponent eight times in 11 contests, facing all seven teams from Canada in that span, including Calgary twice.

Series notes

2018-19:Minnesota is 1-1-0 after two season meetings against Vancouver…The Wild fell in its first meeting, 5-2, at Rogers Arena (10/29) and earned a 6-2 victory in the second meeting at Xcel Energy Center (11/15)…C Mikko Koivu (1-2=3) and D Ryan Suter (1-2=3) each lead the team with three points…C Charlie Coyle (1-1=2), D Matt Dumba (1-1=2) RW Mikael Granlund (0-2=2), C Eric Staal (1-1=2) and LW Jason Zucker (1-1=2) own two points apiece…G Devan Dubnyk is 1-1-0 with a 3.05 GAA and a .895 SV% in two starts…C Markus Granlund (2-0=2), C Bo Horvat (1-1=2) and C Elias Pettersson (2-0=2) lead the Canucks with two points each… D Ben Hutton and RW Jake Virtanen scored a goal apiece…G Jacob Markstrom stopped 37-of-39 shots in the first game…G Richard Bachman made 23 saves in the second game.
WILD LEADERS: Koivu leads Minnesota with 46 points (13-33=46) in 60 games against Vancouver…Suter has 23 points (5-18=23) in 49 matches…LW Zach Parise has 15 points (10-5=15) in 23 contests…D Jared Spurgeon owns 15 points (3-12=15) in 30 games.
WILD GOALIES:Dubnyk is 12-10-4 with a 2.53 GAA, .919 SV% and three shutouts in 28 games (25 starts) vs. the Canucks…G Alex Stalock is 0-1-0 with a 1.99 GAA and a .929 SV% in two games (one start).
CANUCKS LEADERS: LW Loui Eriksson leads Vancouver with 36 points (16-20=36) in 38 games against Minnesota…D Alexander Edler owns 22 points (4-18=22) in 44 contests…C Brandon Sutter owns 15 points (11-4=15) in 17 games.
CANUCKS GOALIES:Markstrom is 2-1-0 with a 2.66 GAA and a .911 SV% in four games (three starts) vs. the Wild…G Anders Nilsson is 1-3-0 with a 3.27 GAA, a .879 SV% and one shutout in four starts.

Did you know?

Minnesota is 11-7-1 in its last 19 games against the Canucks, including a 6-3-0 mark in its last nine games in Vancouver…The Wild is 10-7-1 in the last 18 games played in Saint Paul…Minnesota's 93 points vs. the Canucks are its third-most against any NHL franchise.