The vast majority of experts from Sportsnet picked the Vancouver Canucks to defeat the Minnesota Wild in the qualifying round.
Game 1 of the qualifying round matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and the Minnesota Wild is just five days away now.
The two teams will square off in a best-of-five in the hub city of Edmonton, Alberta. The winner will advance to the round of 16, where they’ll face one of the top four seeds in the Western Conference — either the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues or the Vegas Golden Knights.
If necessary, Game 5 would take place on Sunday, Aug. 9.
The Canucks are widely regarded as the favorite against their former Northwest Division rivals. Although they finished a point ahead in the standings (78 to 77), Minnesota won three more games in regulation. They also won two of the three regular season meetings.
The Wild have had Vancouver’s number in recent years, but that didn’t stop the experts from siding with Elias Pettersson and company in the qualifying round.
On Tuesday, 18 experts from Sportsnet revealed their predictions for the 2020 postseason. 16 of them chose the Canucks to defeat the Wild in the series. Only Sean Reynolds and Ryan Dixon picked Minnesota to emerge victorious.
Last week, the three experts from NHL.com unanimously picked Vancouver to win the series.
There’s little denying that the Canucks are the better team on paper. They have superior goaltending and forward depth (which I talked about here), plus more overall star power and skill.
But the Wild have always been a thorn in the side of the Canucks. They’re a defensively sound team, and their physicality and toughness could provide problems for Vancouver’s young and playoff-deprived stars.
At the end of the day, each series could go either way here. Neither team has played hockey in four and a half months, and nobody knows what to expect. But if the core players can pick up right where they left off before the season went on pause, the Canucks should be able to get past the stingy Wild.