The Minnesota Wild will play the Vancouver Canucks at the Xcel Energy Center Thursday after a brief one-game road trip.

The Wild (5-9-0) are coming off a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins and Canucks (9-7-0) are coming off a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers.

 

The Canucks won the first meeting of the season between the two teams 2-1 in GM Place on Oct. 17. It was the fifth and final game of a week and a half long road trip for the Wild. Mikko Koivu scored the first goal of the game, but Ryan Kesler and Mikael Samuelsson answered for the Canucks. Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom stopped 37 shots and Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo stopped 17.

The Wild will be without defenseman Kim Johnsson (upper body) and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion). Johnsson is close to returning and Bouchard is not.

The Canucks will be without goaltender Roberto Luongo (broken rib), Michael Grabner (ankle), Alex Bolduc (shoulder), Daniel Sedin (broken foot), Jannik Hansen (broken hand) and Pavol Demitra (shoulder). Henrik Sedin is not listed on the injury report, but has ankle issues.

Ryan Kesler. The versatile forward is second on the Canucks with 16 points. He has five points in the last two games. He also scored in the first meeting of the season between the two teams. 

Mikko Koivu. The center scored the Wild’s only goal in the first meeting and has always played well in his career against the Canucks. 

Wild 4, Canucks 1. The Wild are performing well at home with a 4-1 record and the Canucks are decimated by injuries. The Canucks are leaning on backup goaltender Andrew Raycroft while Luongo is out. He is playing well, but how long can that last. He is a backup for a reason.