Canucks at Wild
Minnesota hosts the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday and it appears the Wild will have to go at least a few more games without star Zach Parise. The left winger, who scored seven goals in 12 contests before spraining his MCL and missing the last seven games, tried to practice Saturday but could not go Monday as he attempted to beat the timetable originally set after being injured on a knee-to-knee hit by Nashville's James Neal on Nov. 5.
"He clearly wasn’t feeling 100 percent (Saturday), so we’ll just take things slowly," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo told reporters. "... I was shocked that he was on the ice with us - well not shocked knowing him, but we weren’t sitting around thinking that he’d be in the lineup for us Wednesday." The Wild began their four-game homestand with a 4-0 victory over Nashville on Saturday that snapped a three-game slide (0-2-1) and is 8-1-0 at the Xcel Energy Center. Vancouver has lost four of its last five (1-3-1) despite receiving major contributions from Daniel and Henrik Sedin after a 3-2 setback to New Jersey on Sunday. The twins combined for 10 goals and 23 points in their last seven games, but the Canucks are 2-4-1 during that span.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 1, Sportsnet West (Vancouver), FSN North Plus (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (8-8-6): Daniel (team bests of 10 goals and 23 points) and Henrik (seven goals, 21 points) need support and it may be coming from Radim Vrbata. The right wing, who scored 31 goals in 2014-15, returned Sunday after missing two games with a groin injury and scored his fourth of the season. Ryan Miller (6-7-5, 2.54 goals against average, .911 save percentage) snapped a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) with a 6-3 victory over Chicago on Saturday.
ABOUT THE WILD (11-5-3): Thomas Vanek (team-high eight goals, 16 points) picked up his game with four goals during Parise's absence after recording a power-play tally Saturday. Devin Dubnyk (11-5-2, 2.49, .911) is expected to make his 12th straight start after snapping a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) Saturday with his third shutout this season. Defenseman Ryan Suter boasts team bests of 16 assists and 19 points and has a goal and four assists in his last three games.
OVERTIME
1. Miller is 4-5-0, 3.03, .886 in nine contests versus Minnesota.
2. Vancouver has scored a power-play goal in six straight games and is 9-for-29 during that span after going 1-for-8 on Sunday.
3. Minnesota won two of three meetings last season and is 6-2-0 in the last eight encounters.