NHL Wednesday: Minnesota vs. Vancouver

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Many hockey experts thought that Vancouver would be a very good hockey team, but not many thought that Minnesota would be good as well.

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While the overall performance of the Northwest Division-leading Vancouver Canucks hasn't left much to be desired, coach Alain Vigneault voiced displeasure with his team's recent efforts on the power play.

Those scuffles, though, pale in comparison to the Minnesota Wild's struggles of late.

Hoping to avoid a 10th defeat in 11 games overall, the Wild look to snap a nine-game losing streak in Vancouver on Wednesday night.

Minnesota (21-13-6) sat in first place in the division as recently as Dec. 26 but has since fallen three points behind Vancouver (24-13-3) thanks to an ugly offensive display. The Wild have posted just 16 goals during a 1-6-3 stretch, and 48 hours after ending a season-worst eight-game slide with a 4-3 win over Edmonton, saw their struggles continue Saturday with a 4-2 loss to Phoenix.

With a three-day break between games, Minnesota tried to work out its kinks and enters this matchup with plenty of optimism.

Doing that, however, could prove difficult given the Wild's recent play in Vancouver. Minnesota has been outscored 35-14 during an 0-7-2 stretch at Rogers Arena.

The Canucks, who have converted 12 of 28 power-play opportunities (42.9 percent) during their last seven home games versus the Wild, have to like their chances of picking up the pace with the man advantage.

Vancouver scored one power-play goal in six chances during Monday's 3-2 shootout loss to San Jose. The Canucks lead the league with 37 power-play goals but have just two in their last 21 opportunities.

The Canucks also fell 4-1 at Los Angeles on Saturday and haven't lost three straight since an 0-1-3 skid last Jan. 16-22. These two great teams are trying o get back on the winning track and stake a claim to one of the best teams in the NHL this season.