The Call of the Wild - Canucks Visit Minny

The Canucks begin their Central Division roadtrip and will face off against the Minnesota Wild.  Former Northwest Division foes are once again jockying for conference positioning as two points separate them in the standings.

Vancouver Canucks: 35 GP: 20-10-5; 45 pts
Minnesota Wild: 35 GP: 19-11-5; 43 pts

The Canucks have won 7 straight games and 8 out of their last 10.  The Wild are coming off a 3 game roadtrip where they went 1-2 overall, but defeated the scrappy Avalanche in a shootout in their last contest.  The Wild have only won 4 out of their last 10 games.

This game can be viewed on Fox Sports North or Sportsnet Pacific at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT,

Here are the projected lineups:

Canucks (the good guys)

Forwards:

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Jannik Hansen
Chris Higgins - Ryan Kesler - Mike Santorelli
David Booth - Brad Richardson - Zack Kassian
Jeremy Welsh - Zac Dalpe - Dale Weise

Defensemen:
Ryan Stanton - Kevin Bieksa
Dan Hamhuis - Christopher Tanev

Yannick Weber - Jason Garrison

Goaltenders:

Roberto Luongo (starter)
Eddie Lack

Wild (the bad guys)

Forwards:
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Charlie Coyle
Nino Niederreiter - Erik Haula - Jason Pominville
Matt Cooke - Kyle Brodziak - Brett Bulmer
Dany Heatley - Torrey Mitchell - Zenon Konopka

Defensemen:
Ryan Suter - Jonas Brodin
Jared Spurgeon - Marco Scandella
Keith Ballard - Clayton Stoner

Goaltenders:
Josh Harding (starter)
Niklas Backstrom

Things to watch for - Canucks:

Chris Higgins - he is a big reason why the Canucks have won 7 straight games.  He has 3 goals and 7 points in the last 5 games.  The second line featuring Higgins, Kesler, and Santorelli has started to heat up.  If they can keep contributing and working hard, the streak should continue to grow.

Roberto Luongo - he is riding a 5 game winning streak in between the pipes.  Tonight he enters his house of horrors in Minnesota.  Can he exorcise his Wild demons and play respectable in Minneapolis?  The 34 year old should be a lock for the Canadian Olympic team as he continues to get stronger as the season rolls along.

Things to watch for - Wild:

Ryan Suter - he never leaves the ice.  He leads all NHL blueliners with 29:32 of time on ice per game.  The US Olympian is the anchor of the Wild blueline and plays in all situations.  He has an assist streak going with 3 assists in 3 games.  He does not have a goal tallied this season.

Zach Parise - the Minnesota native and former Devil is also a US Olympian.  He leads the Wild with 26 points in 34 games.  He is a shorthanded threat and will score anytime given a breakaway chance.

Prediction:
3-1 Vancouver (Higgins GWG)

Until next time, stay classy! -George