Wild at Canucks
Eric Staal is enjoying the fruits of a torrid stretch and the Minnesota Wild are doing the same with wins in seven of their last nine to ascend into third place in the Central Division. Staal and the Wild look to remain white-hot when they visit the Pacific Northwest bidding to salvage the finale of their three-game season series versus the Vancouver Canucks.
"Everything he touches -- start calling him Midas from now on -- it turns into gold. I hope it doesn't end," coach Bruce Boudreau said of Staal, who scored for the second time to cap Minnesota's four-goal surge in a 3 1/2-minute stretch of the second period in Tuesday's 6-2 triumph over Carolina. The 33-year-old has recorded 30 (17 goals, 13 assists) of his team-leading 67 points in his past 22 games, with the sterling run starting with one assist in a 3-2 overtime loss versus Vancouver on Jan. 14. The sputtering Canucks are adjusting to life without Brock Boeser after the 21-year-old rookie sensation injured his back in Monday's 4-3 overtime win against the New York Islanders. "With Brock or without Brock, this game was far from good enough," Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said following Wednesday's 2-1 loss to Arizona. "It just wasn't good enough from each and every guy."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE WILD (38-22-7): Captain Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise each are riding five-game point streaks, with the former setting up a pair of goals versus the Hurricanes to give him three tallies and four assists during his stretch while the latter has scored three goals and set up two others in his run. Koivu notched an assist in the most recent meeting versus Vancouver to raise his total to a club-best 43 points (12 goals, 31 assists) in 57 contests against the franchise. Fellow forward Jason Zucker, who scored a goal versus the Canucks in January, has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his last 10 games.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (25-33-9): Jussi Jokinen scored his first goal since Nov. 30 on Wednesday when he converted Brendan Leipsic's feed into the slot late in the first period. "It's really important, I'm playing for my job next year," said the 34-year-old Jokinen, who is playing for his fourth NHL team this season. The 23-year-old Leipsic has found his offense by scoring two goals and setting up four others in four games since being acquired from Vegas, with which he had just two tallies and 11 assists in 44 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota G Devan Dubnyk was saddled with both losses versus Vancouver this season despite posting a 1.99 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.
2. The Canucks are 1-1-2 on their current five-game homestand and have dropped four of five overall.
3. Minnesota owns a 5-2-0 mark in its last seven games in Vancouver.