The Vancouver Canucks face the Minnesota Wild with both teams looking to turn around rough starts to the season. The Canucks have an 0-3-1 record while the Wild are 0-3 to start the season. Both teams are looking to get to the win column and improve off difficult starts to the season to make up ground in the Western Conference.
The Canucks entered the season with high hopes but have yet to win a game despite their offense stepping up and scoring 3.00 goals per game. Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat, and J.T. Miller have scored eight goals and five assists to lead the top two lines but the entire offense has looked strong to start the season. Brock Boeser, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Tanner Pearson have scored a goal and six assists to add depth to the forward unit while defensemen Quinn Hughes and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have added six assists from the point to help open up the offense.
The offense has stepped up but the defense has let the Canucks down, allowing 4.50 goals per game. Quinn Hughes and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have led the top pairing but the rest of the defense has been awful, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. Furthermore, goaltender Thatcher Demko has struggled in the net, allowing 13 goals on only 85 shots.