The Minnesota Wild left the weekend with two wins in hand, and the more important part might be how they got them. After stumbling earlier in the week against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, Minnesota went into Seattle on Saturday, Oct. 24, and Vancouver on Sunday night, Oct. 25, and looked much more like itself. The Wild beat the Kraken 5-1, then followed it by starting fast again against the Canucks and holding on for another win.
That was the cleanest sign of the weekend: Minnesota rediscovered its own game. Against the Oilers and Flames, the Wild had struggled on special teams and never really settled into their aggressive, up-tempo style.
Instead, they got dragged into playing the other team’s pace. Against Seattle and Vancouver, that changed.
The Wild were quicker to loose pucks, tougher to push around, and more committed to the way they want to play. It took a little time in both games, but once they found that rhythm, the results followed.
Quinn Hughes gave the trip another layer of drama in Vancouver. It was his first game back there since he was traded to Minnesota in Dec. 2025, and the night also brought his 500th career point.
Hughes spent the first six and a half seasons of his career with the Canucks, putting up 432 points in 459 games, including a career-high 92-point season. The crowd gave him a mix of boos and cheers, but he didn’t let any of it throw him off.
He scored Minnesota’s third goal, the one that stood up as the game-winner, and later set up Kirill Kaprizov for the fourth goal with a sharp pass that sprung him on a breakaway.
The Wild also got scoring from places they need it most: the middle and bottom of the lineup. Blake Coleman, who has been a steady behind-the-scenes piece since joining the team, broke through against the Kraken with two goals.
He opened the season with a goal in Minnesota’s first game and added another in the fourth, but had been quiet since then. On Saturday, he answered after the game was tied and later capped things with the empty-netter.
In Vancouver, Maxim Shabanov and Bobby Brink gave Minnesota the kind of support that matters over the grind of a season. Shabanov got the Wild on the board on the power play, and Brink followed in the second period with a goal that made it 2-0.
Brink had been struggling to produce, but he seized his chance and buried a beauty. If the Wild are going to keep stringing together wins, they need exactly that kind of secondary punch.
The goalies did their part too. Jesper Wallstedt started against the Kraken and was a stabilizing force when the game could have tilted early.
He helped Minnesota keep control while the team was still searching for its footing. Calvin Pickard got the nod against the Canucks in his second start of the season, and the setting was different this time around than his first back-to-back assignment.
He wasn’t under constant pressure early, but he handled what came his way and made the saves Minnesota needed. He did run into a little trouble late, but the Wild still rode his performance to the finish.
Minnesota now has one more game left on the road trip before a single stop at home and then another quick return to the road. The final test comes against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and the Wild will be looking to finish the trip the same way they handled the weekend: by staying in their game and coming home with another win.
In Other News...
Canucks Newest Addition Is Giving Fans A Reason To Watch Abbotsford
Jacob Quillan has wasted little time making himself noticeable in Abbotsford. The center has picked up six points in his first four games with the Canucks AHL affiliate, and he has quickly settled into a top-line role while helping keep the team rolling during a strong stretch of play.
The latest example came against Calgary, where Quillan gave Abbotsford another spark in a game that fit the clubs recent form. For Vancouver fans scanning the farm team for signs of help, Abbotsfords five-game winning streak has offered at least one reason to keep tabs on the lineup, and Quillan is becoming part of that story. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Are Desperately Searching For A Lineup Fix After 10 Straight Losses
The Canucks were back on the practice ice after their 10th straight loss, and the urgency around the room was obvious. With a two-game road trip coming up, Manny Malhotra spent the session experimenting with new line combinations in search of some kind of spark, a reflection of just how far the lineup is still from settled.
Linus Karlsson and Filip Hronek both got maintenance days, but the expectation is theyll be available for the next game. For Vancouver, the message from practice was less about one dramatic fix than about continued trial and error, with Malhotra trying to find the right chemistry before the losing streak starts to define the season even more than it already has. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Road Woes Are Turning Up Pressure On A Fragile Rebuild
The Canucks road struggles have started to feel bigger than a bad stretch, especially with the offense looking stuck in neutral away from home. Vancouver sits near the bottom of the league in shot generation and has had trouble keeping opponents out at even strength, a combination that keeps putting more strain on a rebuild that already feels delicate. Head coach Manny Malhotra has been pushing for a harder, more sustained offensive push, the kind that keeps pucks moving toward the net instead of leaving the team chasing the game.
Liam Ohgren is among the players feeling that pressure most directly after spending time as a healthy scratch, a reminder that young forwards in this environment do not get much runway to settle in. The rookie left winger knows his game has to sharpen, and he has framed the recent reset as a chance to simplify rather than search for answers on every shift. For a team trying to find traction, that mindset matters as much as any lineup shuffle, because Vancouver needs more players willing to trust their instincts when the offense starts to dry up. [Read more 🡒]