The Vancouver Canucks (12-17-3) will once again try for consecutive victories for the first time since mid-October when they face JT Miller and the New York Rangers (16-14-4) at Madison Square Garden. The game is set to begin at 4 pm PT. What we saw
Brock Boeser took the morning off, but the veteran winger is expected to be in uniform tonight. However, Elias Pettersson will miss a fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. Pettersson took part in the team’s morning skate, and the hope is that he will return to the lineup at some point on this road trip.
Thatcher Demko makes his third consecutive start since returning from injury. He stopped 25 of 26 shots against the Devils to record his first win since November 3rd against the Nashville Predators. Demko was busy over the final two periods. New Jersey held a wide 21-8 edge on the shot clock over the final 40 minutes.
Newcomer Zeev Buium scored the game-winner and added an assist in his Canucks debut against the Devils. The 20-year-old defenceman was part of a Vancouver power play that went two for three on the afternoon. It was the fifth time this season – and first since November 17th in Florida – the Canucks have struck twice with the man advantage. Jake DeBrusk scored the other Vancouver goal on Sunday, ending a 10-game drought. Marco Rossi didn’t figure in the scoring in Newark, but logged 18:16 of ice time and went nine for 15 in the faceoff circle. Liam Öhgren saw 11:39 of ice time in his debut with the team.
Offence remains hard to come by for the Canucks, who have scored more than two goals in a game just twice in their last 11 outings. Boeser has one goal in his last 14 games, while Conor Garland has scored once in his last 10 contests. Aatu Räty will be a healthy scratch for a second straight game. Arshdeep Bains and P-O Joseph are the others expected to be scratched tonight.
The Opponent
The Rangers are playing at home for the second time in 24 hours and the third time in four nights. They fell 4-1 to the Anaheim Ducks last night in a game that was 2-1 into the final minute of play. Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves in goal. Artemi Panarin had five shots on 10 attempts and has registered 25 shot attempts in the past two games.
Panarin leads the Rangers in scoring with 34 points, while he and Mika Zibanejad share the team lead with 11 goals apiece. JT Miller had a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, on Saturday against Montreal, and has nine goals and 20 points through 32 games this season.
Zibanejad did not dress for last night’s game as punishment for missing a team meeting. He is expected to be back in the lineup tonight. Defenceman Adam Fox is second on the team in scoring, but is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered earlier this month.
New York has just one win in its last five games, but has picked up points in three of them (1-2-2).
The Rangers are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, ranking 29th in goals per game (2.59). A huge part of the issue is a home record of 4-9-3 in which the team has scored just 30 goals through 16 games.
With the short turnaround, expect veteran Jonathan Quick to get the start in goal. He made 23 saves and blanked the Canucks 2-0 at Rogers Arena on October 28th. Quick, who turns 40 next month, is 3-3-1 on the season with an astounding 1.86 GAA and a .937 save percentage. He has allowed just 13 goals in his seven starts.
News and notes
The Rangers lead the NHL in hits with 901, led by Will Cullye’s 116. Cullye sits fourth in the league. Canucks forward Kiefer Sherwood is second with 140. It was at MSG last season that Sherwood broke the league’s single season hit record.
The officials for tonight’s game are Beau Halkidis and Francois St. Laurent.
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