4 Takeaways From the Wild’s Back-to-Back

The Minnesota Wild were in the midst of their road trip when they faced the Seattle Kraken in the first half of a back-to-back on Saturday night, Oct. 24, and the Vancouver Canucks in the second half on Sunday night. Oct. 25. The Wild looked to redeem themselves after some rough losses to the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames earlier in the week. They did find that spark against the Kraken, and although they had to fight for it a bit at first, they came away with the win 5-1. 

Jesper Wallstedt was in the net against the Kraken while Calvin Pickard had his second start of the season against the Canucks. Their roster was basically the same as earlier in the week with both Foligno brothers out, but they did lose Daemon Hunt to the Nashville Predators when they picked him up off waivers. In their game against the Canucks, they also started out in front, and they held on to come out with the win. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways from the Wild’s back-to-back, starting with how they found their game again. 

Wild Find Their Game

The Wild struggled against the Oilers and Flames when it came to special teams, but also playing their style of aggressive, fast-paced hockey. Instead, they fell into playing the other team’s style of game, and they struggled. Every team is at their best when they play the style that suits them, and the Wild are no different. They’ve found that style early this season, and this was the first time it was truly tested outside of a loss to the Winnipeg Jets that had other factors involved. 

Against the Kraken and Canucks the Wild found that game again; they were quick to the puck, they didn’t allow either team to knock them around, and they stuck to their style. Although it took a little bit longer in both games for them to find that style of play, they did eventually get it going, and they got the wins. Hopefully they have figured out how to stick to their gameplay and won’t fall into playing the other team’s game.

Wild’s Hughes Hits 500

Not only did Quinn Hughes make his first appearance in Vancouver since he was traded to Minnesota in Dec. 2025, but he also tallied his 500th career point. He spent the first six and a half seasons of his career with the Canucks, and he had 432 points in 459 games played, and among those seasons was his career-best 92 points. 

He didn’t let the mix of boos and cheers rattle his game as he scored the Wild’s third goal of the game that would go on to be the game-winner. He also assisted on the fourth goal of the game with a nice pass to Kirill Kaprizov, who went on a breakaway. He had a great game against his former team, and hopefully he’ll keep the points coming. 

Wild’s Depth Steps Up

Blake Coleman has been a solid behind-the-scenes guy for the Wild since his first game for them, but against the Kraken he found a way to produce offensively with two goals. He scored in the Wild’s first game of the season and again in the fourth but had been quiet since then. Against the Kraken, he gave the Wild the lead again after it was tied, and then he scored the final empty-net goal. 

Against the Canucks it was Maxim Shabanov and Bobby Brink who stepped up and helped their team to a lead. Shabanov got to work on the power play and gave his team their first goal of the game. Then in the second period, Brink, who had been struggling to produce, found his opportunity and took it, which gave the Wild a 2-0 lead in the second period with a beauty of a goal. In order to get through the long season, the Wild need everyone, including their depth, to step up, and they got that these past two games, and it needs to continue.

Wild’s Goaltending Solid

Fans got to see both of the Wild’s goaltenders in action on this road trip; they’ve mostly watched starter Jesper Wallstedt, but now they’ve also gotten to witness Calvin Pickard. His first start of the season was also in the second half of a back-to-back, but the team in front of him was much more fatigued than they were this time around. 

At the start of this back-to-back, Wallstedt was strong against the Kraken, and he was key in his team maintaining control when it easily could have gone the other way early on. Pickard also had a strong showing in his turn against the Canucks. He wasn’t tested too much early on, but he made the necessary saves, and although he did have a little trouble near the end, he still helped secure the win. 

The Wild have one more game on this road trip before they’ll make a one-game stop at home before going right back on the road. Hopefully they can finish this road trip with a strong win against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and come home on a high note.