Vancouver Canucks Week #11 Outlook: Uphill Momentum
By David Joun
Nov 25, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu (9) takes the faceoff in the second period against the Vancouver Canucks forward Henrik Sedin (33) at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
@Minnesota Wild (15-7-6) Tuesday, December 15th
Leading Scorer: Mikko Koivu (5 Goals, 21 Points)
Keys to the Game:
- Ryan Miller stands tall
- Special teams domination
- Be hungry for possession
The Canucks’ task in this game against the Wild is simple. Don’t let in goals, score goals, do well on the special teams, and go after the puck.
The Wild find themselves in the bottom third of the league in both total goals for and goals against. To clarify — they have scored little and have let in even less. The game is going to be tight to the end.
Not if the Special Teams can help it. The Wild are 25th in the league on the power play, and 26th on the penalty kill. The Canucks need to take advantage if they want to score on such a tight-scoring team. Lastly, the Canucks are dead-last in face-offs. The Wild are fifth, with a 51.4 face-off win percentage. The Canucks have to be really hungry for the puck after the draw if they do not want to chase the Wild the entire game.
Next: @philadelphia flyers