Wild at Canucks
Mikael Granlund and the Minnesota Wild hope their respective success travels well as they begin a pronounced seven-game road trip versus the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. Granlund answered a slow start with five goals and four assists during his seven-game point streak, with his goal total leading the team while his point total (nine) is two shy of fellow forward Zach Parise for top honors.
Granlund scored a goal and set up Eric Staal's go-ahead tally midway into the third period on Saturday as Minnesota skated to its fifth straight victory with a 3-2 triumph over Colorado. Staal also had a goal and an assist in the win for the Wild, who will take on Washington on Nov. 13 in their next home game before hosting Vancouver two nights later. The Canucks dropped their second straight lopsided decision with Saturday's 5-0 setback to Pittsburgh and have lost four of six overall to take the joy out of their fast start to the season. Jacob Markstrom turned aside 30 shots in that contest and presumably will see his workload increase after fellow goaltender Anders Nilsson sustained a fractured finger during the pre-game skate.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS North Plus (Minnesota), Sportsnet (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE WILD (6-2-2): Devan Dubnyk has been on a roll, turning aside 117 of 122 shots to win his last four outings and improve to 5-1-2 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .945 save percentage this season. The 32-year-old only yielded six goals on 82 shots versus Vancouver last season, but skated away with losses in two of the three encounters. Staal collected a goal and an assist and Granlund set up two tallies against the Canucks last season.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (6-6-0): Fellow goaltender Richard Bachman was recalled from Utica of the American Hockey League with Nilsson expected to miss two-to-three weeks, according to coach Travis Green. "Nilly took a shot in the morning and it didn't feel right. He has a fractured finger, so Bachman will be up for a bit," said Green, who also noted that defenseman Chris Tanev remains day-to-day with a hip injury. The news was not as promising for blue-liner Alex Edler, who has a sprained MCL and is sidelined three-to-six weeks, per Green.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota LW Jason Zucker registered his eighth point in as many games with an assist against the Avalanche.
2. Staal resides two goals shy of 400 for his career.
3. Vancouver LW Darren Archibald, who scored a goal in his lone game this season, was reassigned to the Comets on Sunday while Minnesota recalled F Jordan Greenway from Iowa.