Wild vs Canucks GDT 10/22

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WILD (3-2-1) at CANUCKS (2-3-2)

TV: KSTC (HD), SNET-P (HD)

Season Series: Second of six meetings between these Northwest Division rivals, and the second in four days. Marek Zidlicky had a power-play goal and a pair of assists as Minnesota drew first blood with a 6-2 victory at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday. Daniel Sedin scored both goals for Vancouver.

Big Story: After finishing 19 points behind the division-winning Canucks a season ago, the Wild hope to spend the 2010-11 campaign jockeying for playoff position with them instead. Minnesota has won consecutive games and three of four since losing twice to Carolina in its season-opening series in Helsinki, Finland.

"To be successful in the League, you can't be good one night and so-so the next night," coach Todd Richards told the Minneapolis Star Tribune earlier this week. "You've got to string wins together. You need three in a row, four in a row. And when you do lose one, you have to get right back on that winning streak."

Team Scope:

Wild: Kyle Brodziak was drafted by Edmonton and came into the League with the Oilers, where he played parts of four seasons. He landed in Minnesota last season, where he recorded a career-high 32 points, and on Thursday night he scored a pair of goals against his old club 2:45 apart in the first period to spark a 4-2 win for the Wild.

"It's the same as doing anywhere else, I think," Brodziak said. "It's nice to be able to contribute.

"That feels good when you can contribute and the team wins. It doesn't make any difference where it happens."

Canucks: Two wins in seven games isn't the type of start Vancouver envisioned to its season. Goaltender Roberto Luongo undoubtedly feels the same way about his mediocre stats (1-3-2, 2.92 goals-against average, .903 save percentage). It was hard to complain about the result through 65 minutes against Chicago on Wednesday -- a 1-1 deadlock with Luongo stopping 31 shots. But the Blackhawks scored three times on as many shootout attempts against him to deal the Canucks a 2-1 loss, their fourth in five games.

"Obviously, I am disappointed in the shootout," Luongo told the Vancouver Sun. "I have to make a save there and give the team a chance to win. I'm just not good enough there in the shootout."

Who's Hot: Wild defenseman Brent Burns had an empty-net goal and an assist Thursday. He has 2 goals and 2 assists during a three-game points streak. Guillaume Latendresse, who had the game-winning power-play goal, has consecutive multi-point efforts. Matt Cullen has 2 goals and 5 assists during a four-game points streak. Martin Havlat is still looking for his first goal but has 5 assists in a three-game points streak.

Daniel Sedin is tied for the League lead with 7 goals. He leads the Canucks with 10 points and has at least one in every game this season. No one else on the team has more than 2 goals, though Henrik Sedin has 9 assists.

Injury Report: Minnesota's injuries are all long-term -- goaltender Josh Harding (torn ACL/MCL) and forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion) and James Sheppard (knee).

Vancouver is without defensemen Sami Salo (Achilles) and Keith Ballard (concussion) and forwards Alexandre Burrows (shoulder) and Alexandre Bolduc (high ankle sprain). Forward Rick Rypien was suspended indefinitely for a shoving a fan in Minnesota on Tuesday. He has a hearing with the League scheduled for Friday.

Stat Pack: This the second of 19 back-to-back sets the Wild play this season. They were 7-8 in the second half of back-to-backs last season and lost to the Hurricanes in the first instance this season. … Jeff Tambellini, Guillaume Desbiens and Tanner Glass, the Canucks' fourth line in Wednesday's game, combined for 12 hits.

Puck Drop: Jose Theodore, who won the Bill Masterton Trophy last season but wasn't re-signed in Washington as the Capitals elected to go with youngsters Michael Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov in goal, is expected to receive his first start of the season for Minnesota. The former Hart and Vezina Trophy winner has a 5-7-2 career record in Vancouver with a 3.34 GAA and .882 saver percentage.

I want the Wild to win, but I dunno. Vancouver is going to be playing pissed off hockey, I say we drop this one 3-2. Prove me wrong Jose.

I expect Lats to have another great game though.

Wild vs. Canucks post-game

Wild overwhelmed by Vancouver in 5-1 road loss
Written by Derek Felska
Saturday, 23 October 2010 15:20

Vancouver 5, Minnesota 1

Jose Theodore had 30 saves in the loss. From the start of the game, Theodore found himself under siege as the Vancouver were determined to use their speed to take advantage of a tired Minnesota team that had played the night before. I know he gave up 5 goals, but he kept Minnesota in the game for a lot longer than it should have been. Many of the opportunities he faced were from the top of the crease as Vancouver repeatedly sent forwards towards him looking for the quick redirect on goal. I thought Theodore looked solid enough and even though the game got out of hand at the end I think that was more indicative of his defense wearing down in front of him than poor focus on his part. Was it the best Wild debut ever between the pipes, no, but it certainly demonstrated Minnesota had a competent backup as this game could've been far more one-sided than it was.

Defensively the Wild were chasing the Canucks all night long. Vancouver is a team that possesses superior speed and they used quick passing to stretch out Minnesota's defense and create those crash-the-crease scoring chances. I thought Clayton Stoner had a reasonable game considering he's been spending time in the pressbox as of late, had a fairly solid game. He made simple smart plays by using the glass to work the puck out of the Wild's zone. He also got involved physically by dropping the gloves with Guillaume Desbiens and he more than held his own as he really was throwing some great righhanded haymakers. I thought towards the end this group got exhausted and that's when the Canucks began to pull away. I would also prefer to see Brent Burns use his body a bit more than resorting to poke checks. While I know he may be hoping to avoid a concussion he is at his best in my opinion when he's asserting himself physically. He has the frame and the athleticism to do it. Marek Zidlicky was the only member of the blueline that showed any ability to help support the offense and he exhibited a little jump as well. (click on the link for the rest of the article)

The Canucks looked like they wanted it more last night...enjoy!

completely agree, the Nuckers wanted it way more