The Canucks are out to snap a two-game skid after losses in Edmonton Saturday and at home to St. Louis on Monday. The team has scored just three goals in the past two outings. Kiefer Sherwood had both goals in a 5-2 loss on Monday.

After backing up Kevin Lankinen against the St. Louis Blues, Thatcher Demko returns to the net tonight. He has posted a sparkling .944% save percentage in his two starts this season. The San Diego native is 8-1-1 lifetime against the Stars.

On Tuesday, the Canucks returned 18-year-old Braeden Cootes to WHL Seattle. That made room for Max Sasson on the roster. Sasson, who has scored in each of Abbotsford’s first two AHL games over the weekend, will see his first NHL game action of the new season tonight.

In an effort to find a spark, Adam Foote is mixing up his lines to start tonight’s game. Drew O’Connor and Conor Garland will flank Elias Pettersson while Filip Chytil skates between Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk. Linus Karlsson will make his season debut, taking the place of Jonathan Lekkerimäki in the lineup. Karlsson will be reunited with Sasson and Arshdeep Bains, hoping to recreate the chemistry those three showed in the preseason and last season in Abbotsford. Evander Kane will play with Aatu Räty and Kiefer Sherwood.

The defence corps will remain the same as on Monday, with Victor Mancini in for Derek Forbort, who has been placed on IR.

The Canucks need to get Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes going. Both have just one point through three games. Finding a way to ignite the power play would likely go a long way toward helping the cause. The Canucks have yet to cash in on seven opportunities with the man-advantage.

The last time the Canucks were in Dallas on April 8th, they set an NHL record with three goals in the final minute of regulation time to force overtime. They then beat the Stars 6-5 to complete the miraculous comeback. Sherwood was the OT hero in what turned out to be Demko’s final appearance last season.

Dallas has roared out of the gates with three straight wins, already scoring 14 goals over that span. On Tuesday, the Stars downed Minnesota 5-2 in their home opener. It was a 3-2 game midway through the third before Dallas scored a pair of empty netters. Jake Oettinger was spectacular in his third straight start to open the season, stopping 39 of 41 shots. Roope Hintz led the way offensively with a goal and two helpers.

Hintz, Thomas Harley and Mikko Rantanen share the team lead with five points apiece, while Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston each have four. Johnston has scored in each of his team’s games so far and leads the Stars with three goals. In all, 11 different Dallas skaters have found the back of the net in the team’s first three games. The Stars have scored on three of their first nine power plays this season (33.3%).

Former Canuck Casey DeSmith will make his first start of the season tonight. Veteran Matt Duchene will miss the game after taking a brutal hit against Minnesota on Tuesday. Duchene skated with the team this morning, but will still skip tonight’s game. Adam Erne will draw into the lineup and make his Stars debut.

Dallas leads the NHL in points by defencemen with 14 in the early going. By contrast, the Canucks and Oilers are tied for last with just a single assist from their blueliners so far.

Former Canucks assistant coach Glen Gulutzan is back for a second stint as head coach in Dallas. One of his assistants is Neil Graham, who coached the Texas Stars into the AHL semi-final against Abbotsford last spring.

Longtime captain Jamie Benn has started the season on the injured list with a collapsed lung. He is expected to miss at least the first month of the season.

The Canucks went 1-2 against the Stars last season. This will be Vancouver’s lone visit to Dallas this season. The Stars will make their way north on two occasions: November 20th and March 2nd.

Wes McCauley and Graedy Hamilton will be the referees tonight.

After tonight’s game, the Canucks will fly to Chicago, where they face the Blackhawks in the first back-to-back of the season. According to Google Flights, it’s a 2:25-minute flight between the cities, which would be the same as teams playing in Vancouver one night and Salt Lake City the next.

This is not only the beginning of a five-game road trip, but a taxing seven-game 11-night stretch that will take the Canucks to the 10-game mark of their schedule.