The Minnesota Wild do not have a singular blueprint to success this season.
Every game has provided a new puzzle. Rarely have those puzzles looked the same.
“I just like the fact that we continue to grind out hard games, different games, find different ways to win, stay with it,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “(I like) the mental toughness, the physical toughness that we’re able to play with.
“That, to me, stands out — and continues to stand out.”
The Wild will look for their latest way to win Tuesday night when they host the Vancouver Canucks in Saint Paul, Minn. It marks the 25th game of the season for Minnesota, which has notched at least one point in 20 of its first 24 contests.
Vancouver also comes in hot after winning back-to-back games in overtime against the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. Those victories gave Vancouver a 4-1-0 record on its current road trip, which will end with a sixth and final stop in the North Star State.
“We’re a scrappy team,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “It might not be pretty some nights, but we don’t give up.”
Quinn Hughes leads Vancouver with 28 points (five goals, 23 assists) in 23 games. He is coming off a three-assist performance at Detroit that gave him the franchise record for most career assists by a defenseman.
The 25-year-old Hughes has 313 assists in 388 games. He surpassed Alex Edler, who tallied 310 assists in 925 games for the franchise.
“It’s incredible,” Tocchet said. “A great milestone.”
The Wild’s top scorer is Kirill Kaprizov, who has 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) in 23 games. Teammate Matt Boldy also has scored double-digit goals (11) to go along with 13 assists.
Kaprizov set up the winning play in the Wild’s latest game when he dished a pass to Jared Spurgeon in overtime. Spurgeon reacted quickly and buried a one-timer to beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Saturday.
“It was sort of a surprise to me, but such a great pass,” Spurgeon said. “I just tried to get it on net as soon as possible. Lucky it went in.”
The Canucks likely will turn to Kevin Lankinen in net to complete the road trip. Lankinen is 12-3-2 with a 2.65 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage, and he has gone 10-0-0 on the road to start the season, an NHL record.
“He’s a road warrior — I think he likes his hotel points,” Tocchet joked. “He’s been like that all year. He lives for the moment and (made) another good effort.”
Lankinen has faced the Wild four times in his career. He is 0-1-1 with a 2.87 GAA and a .918 save percentage in those contests.
If Lankinen gets a rest, the Canucks’ backup option in net is Arturs Silovs (1-4-1, 4.11 GAA, .847 save percentage). He never has faced Minnesota.
The Wild are expected to counter with Filip Gustavsson (11-4-3, 2.05 GAA, .929 save percentage). He has allowed two goals combined in his past two games.
Gustavsson is 3-2-1 with a 2.78 GAA and a .908 save percentage in seven career games against the Canucks.
Minnesota’s other option in net is future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury, who is 5-0-1 with a 2.64 GAA and a .905 save percentage in his 21st season. Fleury has faced Vancouver 21 times and has a 16-3-2 record to go along with a 2.55 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
