Coming off one of their most complete performances of the season, the Vancouver Canucks (24-18-11) will look to back it up with another tonight when they visit the San Jose Sharks (15-34-6) at SAP Center. 
However, the Canucks will once again have to get by without captain and scoring leader Quinn Hughes who will miss a third straight game with a lower-body injury.

What we know

The Canucks held an optional morning skate at the Shark Tank, however, head coach Rick Tocchet did not meet the media. So we are left to speculate about line-up decisions, including a starting goalie for tonight. Thatcher Demko is 12-0 lifetime against the Sharks, so that may factor into the decision, along with the fact Demko is coming off his first shutout of the season in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Colorado.
The Canucks will not have Quinn Hughes, who did not travel with the team. Beyond that, they do have eight healthy defencemen on the roster. At practice on Wednesday, the Canucks rolled with the same defence group they used in the win over the Avs. That means rookie Elias Pettersson was skating with Carson Soucy on his right side while Noah Juulsen and Victor Mancini were the extra pair. 
Tonight will be the first game for newcomer Marcus Pettersson since signing his six-year $33M contract extension on Wednesday night. 
Jake DeBrusk, Brock Boeser and newcomer Drew O’Connor – with his first as a Canuck – into an empty net the Canuck goals on Tuesday. Filip Chytil had an assist and now has points in both games since being acquired from the New York Rangers last weekend.
After a cold month of January, the streaky DeBrusk appears to be heating up again and has scored in two of the last three games. His goal against Colorado was the game-winner and was also his first 5-on-5 goal since December 28th against Seattle. He leads the Canucks with 19 goals on the season and matched his output in 80 games in Boston last season. His next goal will secure his fourth 20-goal season in the NHL. His next point will be the 300th of his NHL career.
Nils Aman, recalled from AHL Abbotsford yesterday, will play his first NHL game since November 9th. Aman, who turns 25 tomorrow, is Abbotsford’s leading scorer and has five goals and 13 points in his last 11 minor league games.

The opponent

The Sharks are reeling, having lost eight of their last nine games and 11 of their last 13. On Tuesday, they surrendered a late short-handed goal and fell 4-3 at home against Montreal. Macklin Celebrini, Tyler Toffoli and Collin Graf, with his first in the NHL, scored the San Jose goals, while Alexandar Georgiev made 16 saves in goal. The team has just five wins in its last 27 outings (5-21-1).
Toffoli leads the Sharks with 19 goals, while North Vancouver’s Celebrini has 17. The first overall pick in last year’s draft leads all NHL rookies in goals and is second to Montreal’s Lane Hutson in freshman scoring. When the Sharks dealt veterans Mikael Granlund and Codi Ceci to Dallas last Saturday, Celebrini became San Jose’s leading scorer with 39 points (Granlund had 45 before being moved). He is still just 18-years-old.
San Jose sits 32nd and last in the NHL standings with 36 points in 55 games. On top of that, the Sharks have a league-worst goal differential of -62. As a team, they have surrendered a league-high 202 goals this season.
The Sharks have just two wins all season when allowing the game’s first goal. They are 2-27-3 in that situation.
Vitek Vanacek is expected to get the start in goal for San Jose. Due to injury, he has not played an NHL game since December 14th and has just one victory since November 5th. Despite being traded away two months ago, Mackenzie Blackwood still leads the Sharks with six goaltending wins on the season.
San Jose will host Dallas on Saturday night in its final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off. On the other side of the break, the Sharks will launch into a seven-game Eastern road trip while a Disney ice show takes over their home rink.
The Canucks are 2-0 against the Sharks this season, winning 3-2 in San Jose on November 2nd and 4-3 in Vancouver on December 23rd. In the latest meeting, Elias Pettersson had his lone two-goal game of the season before leaving the game in the third period with an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the line-up for the team’s first six games after the holiday break. These teams will meet one more time this season on April 14th in Vancouver.
Tonight’s referees: Furman South & Jake Brenk
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson
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