Canucks at Wild
Things got a little too hot for the Vancouver Canucks in the Sunshine State so it shuffled off to Buffalo and got some relief. Vancouver continues its five-game road trip when it meets the Minnesota Wild on Sunday after a 6-3 victory over Buffalo on Saturday helped erase the memories of losses to Tampa Bay and Florida by a combined 14-4.
"We didn't take those losses lightly," Canucks captain Bo Horvat told reporters after recording a goal and an assist Saturday. "We definitely weren't happy with our games. So to bounce back like we did today is definitely huge for our group." Vancouver was riding a seven-game winning streak before the trip began and is one of five teams in an extremely tight race for Pacific Division supremacy. Minnesota has lost two straight and four of its last five games after a 2-1 setback at Calgary on Thursday, and is six points out of playoff position in the Western Conference. "We know that every game right now is almost like a playoff game until the end of the season," Wild forward Mats Zuccarello told reporters after scoring Thursday. "We've got to get in. We're out of the playoffs right now. We're looking in. Every game matters, every day you've got to show up. I think everyone in here knows the urgency ..."
TIME: 4 p.m. ET. TV: FS North, FS Wisconsin, Sportsnet Pacific
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (24-17-4): Brock Boeser scored twice Saturday and has three of his 16 goals this season in the last two games. Horvat has three goals and 10 of his 38 points over the past six games. Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves versus Buffalo and could yield the net Sunday to Thatcher Demko, who made 44 saves in Thursday's 5-2 loss to Florida and has never faced Minnesota.
ABOUT THE WILD (20-18-6): Eric Staal leads the club in goals (16) and points (33) but hasn't hit the scoresheet in four of his last five games. Zach Parise (14 goals) hasn't scored in nine contests while Ryan Suter had his five-game point streak snapped Thursday. Alex Stalock made 35 saves against Calgary in losing his fourth straight start as Devan Dubnyk didn't make the trip to be with his wife, who underwent a medical procedure.
OVERTIME
1. Vancouver entered Saturday with the league's fourth-best power play but is 0-for-12 in its last four games.
2. Minnesota has killed only 8-of-14 penalties over the last four games while the Canucks have extinguished 8-of-12 in their past three contests.
3. The Wild won two of three meetings last season with Suter scoring twice in the three contests.