{"id":486615,"date":"2026-04-02T13:59:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=486615"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:59:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:59:53","slug":"nhl-predictions-vancouver-canucks-minnesota-wild-april-2nd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/04\/02\/nhl-predictions-vancouver-canucks-minnesota-wild-april-2nd\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Vancouver Canucks vs Minnesota Wild, April 2nd"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0Last Word On Hockey<\/i>\u00a0look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the\u00a0Vancouver Canucks\u00a0<\/span><\/a>taking on the Minnesota Wild<\/a>. <\/span>Don\u2019t forget to check out more NHL Predictions, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<\/header>\n

NHL Predictions:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Vancouver Canucks at Minnesota Wild
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

2025-2026 Season Series:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Vancouver 1-1 Minnesota<\/p>\n

Time: <\/span><\/strong>8<\/span>:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) | 5:00 p.m. Pacific<\/p>\n

How to Watch<\/a>: Sportsnet+, SNP, FDSNNO, FDSNWI,<\/span>\u00a0 ESPN+, NHL Centre Ice<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Location:<\/strong> Grand Casino Arena<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in St. Paul, Minnesota<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Credit Image: \u00a9 Richard Tsong-Taatarii\/Minneapolis Star Tribune via ZUMA Press Wire)<\/p>\n

The Vancouver Canucks conclude their four-game road trip with a faceoff against former captain Quinn Hughes<\/a> and the Minnesota Wild. Vancouver sits at 22-44-8 after 74 games, with 52 points, while Minnesota sits at 41-21-12 after 74 games, with 94 points. This marks the third and final meeting between these two teams. Vancouver won the last meeting, 4-2, on December 6th.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canucks Story<\/h3>\n

Vancouver celebrated April Fool’s Day with a wild 8-6 win over the league-leading Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. A welcome sight to be sure after six consecutive losses. With the win, Vancouver avoided clinching last place in the division for another day. However, a loss tonight or a Chicago Blackhawks win will guarantee the best NHL Draft Lottery odds for the Canucks.<\/p>\n

Brock Boeser<\/a> scored a hat trick in Tuesday’s game and now has scored nine goals in his last 15 games. He has gotten 21 goals on the season now, which is not too shabby considering his poor performances earlier in the year.<\/p>\n

The Wild Story<\/h3>\n

Quinn Hughes will face Vancouver for the first time since he was traded to Minnesota<\/a>. He has played as well as you would expect him to play on a more successful team, as he has recorded 49 points in 42 games with the Wild.<\/p>\n

As for the team at large, they are in a peculiar spot. They are likely too far behind the Dallas Stars at this point in the season to push for second place in the Central Division, and their third spot in the division is assured. Motivation may be a factor in the Wild’s middling run as of late, only going 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.<\/p>\n

Starting Goalies<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Below are the projected starters for tonight\u2019s game. Please check social media for the most updated information before locking in your daily fantasy lineups.<\/p>\n

For Vancouver, we expect Nikita Tolopilo<\/a> to get the start. In 16 games this season, he has a 5-7-2 record, a 3.53 goals-against average, and an .886 save percentage.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Minnesota, Filip Gustavsson<\/a> should get the start in goal. In 46 games this season, he has a 26-13-6 record, a 2.57 goals-against average, and a .909 save percentage.<\/p>\n

Prediction and Best Bets<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fresh off a wild game, the Canucks may look to string two wins together, but on paper, it is hard to bet against the Wild to win this one. We will play it safe here and bet on the favourites.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Wild win 5-3.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Bets<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To wrap things up, here are our anytime goal scorer picks. For the Canucks, we will pick\u00a0Brock Boeser<\/a>\u00a0to get a goal<\/span>. On the Wild side, we will pick Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> to pot one.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Bob Frid-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0Last Word On Hockey\u00a0look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the\u00a0Vancouver Canucks\u00a0taking on the Minnesota Wild. Don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5733,"featured_media":468326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,4547,30,4548,4524],"tags":[6012,6014],"class_list":["post-486615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canucks","category-hockey","category-wild","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-minnesota-wild-predictions","tag-vancouver-canucks-predictions"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5733"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486615"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":486837,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486615\/revisions\/486837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}