MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:
SERIES NOTES
All-Time Wild Record: 46-37-15 (27-18-6 at Xcel Energy Center, 19-19-9 at Vancouver)
2022-23: Minnesota earned a 4-3 overtime victory in the series-opening game at Xcel Energy Center (10/20)… LW Kirill Kaprizov (1-2=3) and RW Mats Zuccarello (2-1=3) led the Wild in scoring…D Calen Addison (0-2=2), C Ryan Hartman (0- 1=1), D Jake Middleton (0-1=1) and C Sam Steel (1-0=1) recorded points…G Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 23-of-26 shots faced…C Nils Amas (1-1=2) and C Dakota Joshua (1-1=2) led the Canucks… RW Brock Boeser (0-1=1), D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (0-1=1), C Bo Horvat (1-0=1), D Quinn Hughes (0-1=1) and LW Tanner Pearson (0-1=1) rounded out the scoring…G Thatcher Demko stopped 33-of-37 shots faced.
WILD LEADERS: Zuccarello leads the Wild with 20 points (8-12=20) in 18 contests vs. the Canucks…D Jared Spurgeon has 18 points (4- 14=18) in 38 games…D Alex Goligoski owns 13 points (3-10=13) in 37 matches…D Matt Dumba has 11 points (2-9=11) in 21 games…D Jonas Brodin owns 11 points (2-9=11) in 27 contests… Hartman has 11 points (8-3=11) in 15 games.
WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 14-3-2 with a 2.57 GAA, a .914 SV% and two shutouts in 19 career starts vs. the Canucks…G Filip Gustavsson is 1-1-1 with a 3.73 GAA and a .888 in three games (two starts).
CANUCKS LEADERS: C J.T. Miller (7-7=14 in 17 games) and Horvat (9-5=14 in 20 games) lead Vancouver with 14 points each vs. the Wild…Ekman-Larsson owns 13 points (2-11=13) in 41 matches… Pearson has 11 points (6-5-11) in 21 games.
CANUCKS GOALIES: G Collin Delia is 2-0-0 with a 2.32 GAA and a .940 SV% in three career games (two starts) vs. Minnesota…Demko is 0-2-2 with a 3.72 GAA and a .888 SV% in four starts…G Spencer Martin has not faced the Wild.
FAST FACTS: Minnesota is 18-8-1 in its last 27 games against the Canucks…The Wild is 9-3-0 in its last 12 games played in Vancouver…The Wild is 15-8-1 in the last 24 games played in Saint Paul…Minnesota’s 107 points vs. the Canucks are its third-most against a team.
INJURIES
Brandon Duhaime: upper body
Ryan Hartman: upper body
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 29, 2022 – Dec. 9, 2022
12/9/22 Recalled F Sammy Walker from Iowa and reassigned
F Joseph Cramarossa to Iowa
12/2/22 Recalled F Joseph Cramarossa from Iowa
12/1/22 Recalled D Andrej Sustr from Iowa
11/29/22 Reassigned G Zane McIntyre to Iowa
ON THE POWER PLAY
• Through 26 games the Wild has converted 24.1 percent (21 of 87) of power-play opportunities, 11th-best in the NHL.
• The Wild have converted 34.1 percent (15 of 44) of power-play opportunities at home this season, third-best in the NHL.
• Minnesota recorded a power-play goal in a season-high six consecutive games from Nov. 23 – Dec. 4, going eight-for-19 (42.1 pct.) during that span. The streak tied for the fifth-longest in franchise history
PENALTY KILLERS
• Since Nov. 8, Minnesota is seventh in the NHL with a 81.1 penalty-kill percentage (43 for 53).
• Minnesota is sixth in the NHL with a 82.2 penalty-kill percentage (37 of 45) on the road this season.
WE’RE HEADED TO OVERTIME
• This season, Minnesota has five victories in games decided past regulation, tied for third-most in the NHL. The Wild have two overtime wins and three shootout victories.
• Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Minnesota leads the NHL with 21 victories in extra-session games.
• During the 2021-22 season, the Wild ranked second in the NHL with a franchise record 11 overtime wins and ranked tied for second with five shootout wins, good for 16 total extra-session victories.
• Minnesota went 16-7 in 23 extra session games during the 2021-22 season – its most extra session contests since 23 in 2013-14. The 16 extra session wins are the second-most in team history (17 in 2006-07).
VANCOUVER CANUCKS NOTES:
TV: CBC, CITY, SN
Radio: Sportsnet 650
MATCH-UP INFO
• Tonight marks the second of three meetings between the Canucks and Wild this season: Oct. 20 (4-3 OTL), Dec. 10 (home), and Mar. 2 (home).
• The Canucks are 47-35-5-11 all-time against the Wild, including a 25-12-3-7 record at home.
• Vancouver is 2-5-3 in their last 10 games against Minnesota (0-2-3 in their last 5).
• Among active Canucks skaters, Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller each lead the team with 14 points against Minnesota (9-5-14 in 20 games and 7-7-14 in 17 games, respectively).
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads active Canucks skaters in career games played against the Wild with 41 (2-11-13 in those 41 games).
• Elias Pettersson has eight points (5-3-8) in nine career games against Minnesota.
• Quinn Hughes has seven points (0-7-7) in seven career games against the Wild.
• Spencer Martin has yet to face Minnesota in his career.
• Collin Delia is 2-0-0 with a 2.32 goals against average and a .940 save percentage in three career appearances against Minnesota.
QUICK NUMBERS
• Bo Horvat has seven goals and 12 points (7-5-12) in his last 11 games and is fourth in the NHL in goals scored this season with 20, four back of league-leader Connor McDavid (24).
• Quinn Hughes has 25 points (0-25-25) this season and leads the NHL in assists among defencemen (25 in 23 GP). He also is tied for fourth in the NHL in power play assists with 13.
• Elias Pettersson leads the team with the most multi-point games this season at 11 (11-16-27 in those 11 games).
• Andrei Kuzmenko has 14 points (6-8-14) in his last 10 games.
• Luke Schenn holds the NHL all-time record of most hits (2,953) by a defenceman.
LAST MEETING – OCT. 20/22: VAN 3 at MIN 4 (OT)
Bo Horvat tied the game just prior to the eight-minute mark of the first period, assisted by Tanner Pearson and Brock Boeser…Nils Åman scored his first NHL goal to give Vancouver their first lead of the game, assisted by Dakota Joshua and Quinn Hughes…Dakota Joshua gave Vancouver its second lead of the night with 6:23 left in the second…Nils Åman recorded his first NHL assist on the goal, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson picking up the second assist…Oliver Ekman-Larsson played a season-high 25:26…Thatcher Demko
stopped 33 shots.
2022.23 TEAM RANKS
VAN MIN
Goals For/Game 3.59 (t-6th) 3.12 (t-17th)
Goals Against/Game 3.89 (t-29th) 3.12 (t-16th)
Power Play % 28.1 (6th) 24.4 (t-11trh)
Penalty Kill % 68.7 (29th) 79.8 (12th)
Penalty Min./Game 11:24 (25th) 13:38 (32nd)
*Rankings are accurate as of 11:00am PT on December 9
LAST GAME PLAYED – DEC. 7/22: VAN 6 at SJS 5 (OT)
Dakota Joshua tied the game 4:15 into the first…Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Ethan Bear picked up the assists…Joshua scored his second of the game with 24.5 left in the first…Conor Garland and Ekman-Larsson recorded the assists…Nils Höglander scored his third of the season just 1:34 into the second off of a chip pass from Bo Horvat…Ilya Mikheyev re-took the lead with 31.8 left in the second…Tyler Myers picked up the only assist…Andrei Kuzmenko tied the game on the power play with 3:53 left…Elias Pettersson and Horvat picked up the helpers…Pettersson scored the overtime winner with 34.7 remaining…Kuzmenko and Quinn Hughes assisted on Pettersson’s 13th of the season…Luke Schenn led the team with five hits…Schenn also tied the team’s season-high in blocked shots with five…Spencer Martin stopped 34 shots.
LAST 5 vs MINNESOTA
• Oct. 20/22: VAN 3 at MIN 4 (OT)
• Apr. 21/22: VAN 3 at MIN 6
• Mar. 24/22: VAN 2 at MIN 3 (OT)
• Oct. 26/22: VAN 2 vs MIN 3
• Feb. 19/20: VAN 3 vs MIN 4 (SO)
PERISTENT PETEY
Scoring one goal and tallying two assists on Dec. 5 vs MTL, Elias Pettersson registered 32 points in (12-20-32) 26 games played, becoming the first Canuck to reach this mark in 26 or fewer games played since Daniel and Henrik Sedin in 2010.11 (30 points in 24 GP).
• Monday night also marked Pettersson’s 20th career 3+ point game, tying him with Stan Smyl (1978-1983) for fifth-most 3+
point games in a player’s first five NHL seasons in franchise history.
• Wednesday night at San Jose was Pettersson’s team-leading 11th multi-point game this season and 66th of his career.
• Scoring at 3-on-3 in overtime on Dec. 7 at SJS, Pettersson tallied his 13th goal of the season, all of which have come at even
strength. He ranks tied for third among NHL skaters for most even strength goals this season (13), trailing Jason Robertson
(17) and Connor McDavid (14).
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Scoring his team-leading 20th goal on Dec. 5 vs MTL, Bo Horvat is the fourth skater in Canucks history to score as many goals in the
team’s first 26 games of the season. Horvat is only the third player this season to reach the 20-goal mark (Robertson, 23; McDavid, 22).
• With 34 goals in 44 games since March 9, 2022, Horvat has the highest goals per game (0.77) in the League during that stretch (minimum 5 GP).
• Earlier this season, Horvat became the first player in franchise history to have five multi-goal games in the first 13 games.
BELIEVING IN BRUCE
With the team’s 7-6 OT victory on Dec. 5 vs MTL, the Canucks overcame a 4-0 deficit for only the third time in franchise history to secure a 4-goal comeback win (Jan. 16/73 vs TOR 6-4 W & Oct. 15/71 vs CAL 9-6 W). Coincidentally, Bruce Boudreau also earned his third career win in a game where his team trailed by four-plus goals (Dec. 23/08 w/ WSH & Mar. 31/14 w/ ANA).
• With the team’s 6-5 OT victory on Dec. 7 at SJS, Bruce Boudreau (44 wins) tied Hal Laycoe for 12th place on the Canucks all-time coaches wins list.
PUTTING THE ‘SUDDEN’ IN SUDDEN DEATH
Elias Pettersson’s game-winning overtime goal on Dec. 5 vs MTL came just 13 seconds into OT, making it the fastest goal to start a regular season overtime period in Canucks history. The previous record was held by Dixon Ward who scored 15 seconds into OT on Nov. 29/93.
PRODUCTION LINE
With five combined points, including two multi-point efforts on Dec. 7 at SJS, Andrei Kuzmenko, Elias Pettersson, and Ilya Mikheyev have collectively tallied 35 points in the team’s last 11 games (18-20-38). Between the trio, they have had 24 multi-point efforts this season including three games (Oct. 27 @ SEA, Nov. 27 @ SJS, Dec. 5 vs MTL) where all three skaters put up at least two points.
SCHENN’S GREATEST HITS
Recording six hits on Dec. 3 vs ARI, Luke Schenn claimed the NHL all-time record for most hits by a defenceman (2,948), surpassing Brooks Orpik (2,946), and is now ranked sixth all-time among all skaters. Schenn has collected the second-most hits in the NHL this season (108 in 26 GP). On Nov. 12 at TOR, Schenn matched a franchise record with 12 hits in a game and became the first player in NHL history to record at least three games with 12+ hits in his career.
*The NHL began tracking hits in 2005.06.
POWER PLAY PROWESS
Netting 24 power play goals on 73 opportunities in their last 21 games played, including two tallies on the man-advantage on Dec. 7 at SJS, the Canucks’ power play ranks first in the NHL since Oct. 24, producing at a rate of 32.9%.
HUGHES’ HELPING HANDS
• With two assists on Dec. 3 vs ARI, Quinn Hughes surpassed Doug Lidster for fourth most multi-assist games among defencemen in Canucks history at 35 games.
• Collecting his 20th assist of the season in 17 games on Nov. 26 at VGK, Hughes trailed only Henrik Sedin (21 assists in 2010.11) for most assists by a Canucks player through their first 17 games of a season.
o Previously, on Nov. 21 vs VGK, Hughes passed Sami Salo for sole possession of 9th place on the Canucks all-time assists list among defencemen (164) in 346 fewer games played. Hughes is now one assist away from passing Rick Lanz (171) for sole possession of 8th.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
• Christian Wolanin assigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 6
• Christian Wolanin recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 5
• Thatcher Demko placed on injured reserve, Dec. 5
• Jack Studnicka activated from injured reserve, Dec. 3
• Collin Delia recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Dec. 2
• Phillip Di Giuseppe assigned to Abbotsford, Nov. 30
• Phillip Di Giuseppe recalled from Abbotsford, Nov. 29
• Vasily Podkolzin assigned to Abbotsford, Nov. 28
• Jack Rathbone assigned to Abbotsford, Nov. 28
2022.23 CANUCKS INDIVIDUAL HIGHS
Player Number Date/Opponent
Goals Kuzmenko 3 Nov. 3 vs ANA
Assists Pettersson 4 Nov. 3 vs ANA
Points Pettersson 5 Nov. 3 vs ANA
Shots Pettersson, Horvat 8 Latest Nov. 15 at BUF
Blocked Shots Bear, Burroughs, Schenn 5 Latest Dec. 7 at SJS
Hits Schenn 12 Nov. 12 at TOR (tied franchise record)
Face-Off Wins Horvat 24 Nov. 5 vs NSH
Penalty Minutes Myers 19 Nov. 5 vs NSH
THE LAST TIME…
• The Canucks won when leading after 1P: Dec. 7/22 at SJS
• The Canucks lost when leading after 1P: Nov. 12/22 at TOR
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when leading after 1P: Nov. 5//22 vs NSH
• The Canucks won when leading after 2P: Dec. 7/22 at SJS
• The Canucks lost when leading after 2P: Oct. 17/22 at WSH
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when leading after 2P: Nov. 5/22 vs NSH
• The Canucks won when trailing after 1P: Dec. 5/22 vs MTL
• The Canucks lost when trailing after 1P: Dec. 1/22 vs FLA
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when trailing after 1P: Apr. 3/22 vs VGK
• The Canucks won when trailing after 2P: Dec. 5/22 vs MTL
• The Canucks lost when trailing after 2P: Dec. 1/22 vs FLA
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when trailing after 2P: Oct. 18/22 vs CBJ
• The Canucks won when tied after 1P: Dec. 3/22 vs ARI
• The Canucks lost when tied after 1P: Nov. 21/22 vs VGK
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when tied after 1P: Oct. 20 at MIN
• The Canucks won when tied after 2P: Nov. 27/22 at SJS
• The Canucks lost when tied after 2P: Oct. 24/22 vs CAR
• The Canucks lost in OT/SO when tied after 2P: Mar. 20/22 vs BUF
