For the second time this week, the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken will face off Thursday evening.

The Canucks will look to redeem themselves after blowing a three-goal lead in the final five minutes in the last matchup and are slight underdogs as captain Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson will remain out of the lineup.

The Kraken followed up their win over the Canucks with a 5-2 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Monday and have the opportunity to earn their first three-game winning streak since early November in this matchup.

I’ll detail the relevant game notes, as well as outline my favourite betting angle below.

After closing out 2024 on a low note with a 3-1 loss in a critical matchup versus the Calgary Flames on New Year’s Eve, the Canucks will look to regroup as they take on a Kraken side which ranks 24th in points percentage this season.

Hughes and Pettersson’s absences from the lineup were notable versus Calgary, as the Canucks generated just eight scoring chances and managed only one goal, which came on the power play from Brock Boeser. The Canucks also managed just 24 shots on goal and looked quite stale altogether in a matchup which held plenty of significance in the standings.

The Canucks finished the month of December with a record of 5-4-5. They scored just 2.93 goals for per game while allowing 3.21 goals against per game. Vancouver also held an expected goal share of just 47.55% in those matchups, generating only 2.93 xGF/60.

After the Canucks put up 109 points in 2023-24, it’s pretty natural for fans to question the lack of desperation we have seen from a number of players now that missing the playoffs altogether this season is becoming a possibility. Vancouver’s current problems look to go deeper than complacency, though. Its offensive tactics have looked pretty dated in a number of recent matchups, but the team may not be employing the kind of talent needed to play a more possessive game. This is considerably amplified with Hughes and Hronek both sidelined, as the puck movement from the defence corps continues to look like a massive concern.

In a tiny sample of two games without Hughes, the Canucks are 0-2 and hold a 40.03% expected goal share.

Thatcher Demko is expected to get the start after backing up Kevin Lankinen on Tuesday in Calgary. Demko holds an .879 save percentage and 3.43 GAA in six appearances this season.

While the Canucks closed out 2024 on a low note, the Kraken followed up their momentous comeback win over Vancouver with a solid 5-2 victory over the Utah Hockey Club. The Kraken finished off a tough December schedule with a record of 6-6-1, scoring 3.o8 goals per game while allowing 3.23 goals against per game in those matchups. They held an expected goal share of 45.91% and allowed 3.46 xGA/60.

The Kraken’s defensive core grades out quite well on paper, and it is surprising that the team has taken steps backward defensively this year compared to what we saw in 2023-24. A lack of quality play-drivers in the forward corps is certainly a concern, particularly as Chandler Stephenson leads all Kraken forwards in time on ice despite being highly ineffective.

Kaapo Kakko was a logical buy-low bet for the team to make based on their current weaknesses, and Kakko was excellent in the team’s last matchup, generating five shots on goal and two assists. He is set to remain on what has been a highly productive top-line (albeit in a small sample) alongside Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers in this matchup.

Goaltender Joey Daccord’s injury is another reason the Kraken failed to post better results this season than we saw a year ago. Daccord holds a record of 12-9-2 with a .912 save percentage this season and is expected to remain out of the lineup in this matchup after missing yesterday’s practice.

Philipp Grubauer will likely get the start. Grubauer holds a record of 5-10-0 and has stopped just .878% of shots faced in his 15 games played this season.

Things look pretty ugly for the Canucks right now, and it seems possible that we have not seen the worst of it. Their offensive play continues to look quite stale, and it’s been a pretty significant span where generating quality offensive chances has proven very difficult for the team.

The Canucks’ recent problems seem to be from a combination of both personnel and tactics, and that is arguably the most concerning part. Tocchet doesn’t seem to have many solutions to the Canucks’ offensive woes, but it’s certainly not entirely fair for him to shoulder the blame for the team’s current lack of talent on the back end.

As noted in my preview of the Canucks’ last matchup, I don’t believe there are many skaters in the NHL whose absence hurts their team more than Hughes’ does right now.

Without overselling what the Kraken are, I do believe they deserve to be a bigger favourite in this matchup with Hughes and Pettersson sidelined. At -125 or better, I see value in backing Seattle to win on home ice in this matchup.