Vancouver Canucks take on struggling Minnesota Wild on the road - NHL Preview
Vancouver Canucks travel to Minnesota on Monday, March 19, 2012 to face the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center.
The Canucks have the easiest fixtures on Monday out of their remaining 11 games and will be confident of running out with another big win.
Vancouver has struggled recently with three wins and four losses in their last seven games as they try to keep pace with Western Conference table toppers St. Louis Blues.
The Canucks are currently second in the conference with 94-points and will be looking to gain a further two points when they face the Wild on the road.
Minnesota on the other hand are struggling for results with just a single victory in their last eight games and their chances against the Canucks are slim.
The Wild are currently 13th in the Western Conference with just 68-points.
Canucks (43-20-8, 94 pts)
Vancouver ended a two-game skid on Saturday with a closely fought 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Canucks were brilliant as they stylishly dispatched the Blue Jackets who fought hard but could not keep pace with the in-form Vancouver offensive line.
Forward Daniel Sedin scored twice in the game as he lifted his season tally to 30 goals.
The forward was happy that his team have finally found the solution to their problems on the power play with two goals coming for the Canucks on the man-advantage.
Sedin said after the game.
"When you score a (power-play) goal or two, you get confidence. There's not a lot of changes in our power play lately. It's just a matter of passes being there, shooting the puck and finding rebounds. It's little things."
The Wild would be wary of a powerful Canucks offence and they would face extreme problems in containing one of the best offensive lines in the league.
Wild (29-32-10, 68 pts)
Minnesota’s struggles show no signs of ending and with the visit of Vancouver up next things are set to get even worse for the struggling team.
The Wild will have to play at another level if they want to take anything from this game.
Minnesota are on a three-game skid and coach Mike Yeo’s frustration seems set to be increased on Monday.
The coach said after their latest 5-3 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes.
"The message is pretty simple. We all have to hate losing a lot more than we do. You can never accept this. I don't care who we've got out of the lineup, you cannot accept this. ... We're in h**l. It's not fun."
Predictions
Vancouver will win easily.
The sum of goals will be less than six.
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