Playoff Series Preview
Vancouver Canucks (P1) vs
Minnesota Wild (WC1)
VERSUS
Tale of the Tape:
CANUCKS
45-30-7, 97 points, 1st in Pacific
GF/gm 2.26 (20th)
GA/gm 2.10 (T-4th)
PP 14.3% (21st)
PK 83.8% (16th)
Goals Vrbata (29), Henrik (21), Kassian (16)
Assists Henrik (35), Bonino, Daniel (27)
Points Henrik (56), Vrbata (48), Daniel (39)
Injuries Hansen DTD (upper body), Higgins DTD (upper body)
Goalie Ryan Miller (36-22-9, 1.86gaa, .938sv%, 35.67gsaa, 9so)
Lineup
Daniel - Hank - Kassian**
Raymond - Richardson - Vrbata
Sestito - Bonino - Burrows
Kenins - Horvat - Archibald*
Hamhuis - Tanev
Edler - Weber
Stanton - Corrado
*With Hansen and Higgins both out and the team moving out bottom six winger depth at the deadline, Archibald gets the call after spending the year in Utica. He is a physical two way winger who found some scoring at the minor league level this season
** The Sedins have been reunited lately after coach Dale Hunter played them separately most of the year. They were having late season success next to Jannik Hansen, but with "the Honey Badger" out Zack Kassian will have his chance with them after a breakout year of sixteen goals for him.
WILD
47-23-12, 106 points, 4th in Central
GF/gm 2.88 (4th)
GA/gm 2.15 (6th)
PP 17.6% (9th)
PK 89.3% (2nd)
Goals Niederreiter (38), Parise (22), Pominville (16)
Assists Spurgeon (50), Koivu (49), Suter (37)
Points Niederreiter (67), Koivu (63), Spurgeon (59)
Injuries Pominville OUT 1-2 months (upper body), Fontaine DTD (lower body), Brodin DTD (lower body)
Goalie Niklas Backstrom (29-11-7, 1.93gaa, .927sv%, 9.79gsaa, 7so), Darcy Kuemper* (17-11-2, 2.24gaa, .918sv%, -0.39gsaa, 2so)
Lineup
Parise - Koivu - Brodziak
Vanek - Granlund - Mozyakin
Niederreiter - Coyle - Cooke
Zucker - Jeffrey** - B. Sutter
Suter - Spurgeon
Scandella - Blum
Falk - Dumba
* The aging Backstrom has been solid this season but has been sharing the crease a bit more with 24 year old Darcy Kuemper. Backstrom has started 8 of the last 12 games down the stretch, but rumours are that coach Mike Yeo will be giving the game 1 start to the younger Kuemper.
**Jeffrey's offensive pace has slowed since coming to Minnesota from the Canucks at the deadline, but he has provided reliable two way play and fulfilled his defensive responsibilities on the fourth line admirably.
Preview:
Between the Pipes
Vancouver has the edge in net, with workhorse
Ryan Miller nominated for a Vezina after his stellar season. Even down the stretch with the playoffs and division clinched, coach Dale Hunter continued to rely on
Miller, not even giving rookie
Jacob Markstrom a start in April.
Minnesota has had great numbers all year from their tandem of
Backstrom and
Kuemper.
Backstrom has carried a bit more of the load and has better stats and more experience, but
Kuemper looks like a rising star and has earned every start he's gotten. Reports are that
Kuemper will take the crease for game one, and the question will be whether the flexibility of two capable netminders will be an asset or liability in this postseason for the
Wild.
Blueline
While the
Canucks' top pairing of
Hamhuis and
Tanev has been steady as a rock all season, there are question marks and inexperience after that.
Alex Edler, their #3, has a good reputation and has been solid but not great since returning from an injury that kept him out at the start of the year. After him the Canucks have seen surprisingly good seasons from
Yannick Weber (offensively) and
Frank Corrado (defensively) and
Ryan Stanton has steadily been there and been a plus.
Minnesota clearly has the better blueline overall, with
Spurgeon being one of the best two way defenders in the league. He was third amongst defensemen in the NHL with 59 points.
Ryan Suter and
Jonas Brodin (who is expected to return soon) are two of the premier shutdown defensemen in the NHL. And
Jonathan Blum and
Matt Dumba both look to be coming into their own as exciting NHL defensemen, while
Scandella and
Falk provide dependability.
Up Front
The Sedins are clearly on a decline from their former point per game selves back in the glory days of President's Trophies and Cup Finals runs. Can they find their magic for a series? The
Canucks offense is bone dry and if they want to win they'll need to get some pucks by whoever ends up manning the
Minnesota crease.
Vrbata had a productive season, mostly stapled to
Nick Bonino's wing, and with the injuries and lack of depth he will now be relied upon to drive a line without much in terms of complementary talent.
Mason Raymond is a shadow of his former self ever since his injury in the Finals in 2011. Rookie
Bo Horvat will be the veteran presence on a fourth line between two AHL callups in
Kenins and
Archibald. This is overall a weak group lacking depth and secondary scoring. But
Hansen and
Higgins could both return and turn the tide of the series. The
Wild have a much stronger and deeper forward group. With
Koivu,
Granlund and
Coyle down the middle they roll three capable lines. Throughout the lineup they play responsible two way hockey. Their 'third' line of
Niederreiter,
Coyle and
Cooke is physically intimidating and offensively dangerous. The
Wild have a clear advantage at forward.
Summary
The
Canucks may have home ice advantage due to divisional seeding but make no mistake, the
Wild are the better team here. They are a top 10 team in the NHL in goals scored, goals allowed, powerplay and penalty kill efficiency. They may be missing the offensive punch an injured
Pominville could add to the lineup, but with
Brodin returning to the d-corps any game now they have a solid solid top six and and a top four of
Suter, Spurgeon, Brodin and
Blum that most teams in the league wish they could have.
Vancouver might find lightning in a bottle if
Ryan Miller gets hot and continues his excellence but eventually they will have to score some goals and outplay a better team.
The Wild take this series in five.