Wild Confirm Calvin Pickard Starts at Canucks Tonight on Back-to-Back
Minnesota coach John Hynes split the weekend back-to-back: Jesper Wallstedt started Saturday at Seattle and Calvin Pickard starts Sunday in Vancouver. The Canucks have not confirmed their goalie.
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Wild: Calvin Pickard — confirmed. Minnesota coach John Hynes announced the goalie plan for the weekend back-to-back: Jesper Wallstedt started Saturday at the Seattle Kraken, and Pickard starts Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET), The Hockey News reports. CBS Sports attributes the same plan to Joe Smith of The Athletic.
It is only the second start of the season for the 34-year-old Pickard. In his lone outing he allowed five goals in a loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 13, per CBS Sports, and The Hockey News lists him at 0-1-0 with a 5.00 goals-against average and an .800 save percentage. Wallstedt had started 10 of Minnesota's first 11 games before Saturday, going 6-2-2 with a 2.19 GAA and a .915 save percentage, according to the same report.
Pickard has history on his side in this matchup: he is 2-2-2 with a 2.48 GAA and a .909 save percentage in six career games against the Canucks, The Hockey News notes.
Canucks: unconfirmed. Vancouver had not named its starter in sources we checked. We will update the NHL starting goalies board when it does. Nothing here is betting advice.