The Vancouver Canucks (8-3-3) welcome old friend Bo Horvat and the New York Islanders (6-6-4) to Rogers Arena tonight. 
The Canucks are looking for their fifth win in their last six outings after beating Calgary 3-1 on Tuesday night. And the team will get a boost with the season debut of winger Dakota Joshua who will play for the first time since his testicular cancer diagnosis in early September.

What we saw

Dakota Joshua slides into the lineup on a line with Aatu Räty and Nils Höglander. The other lines remain intact from Tuesday’s win over Calgary. The Canucks will go with the same six defenders they used against the Flames. And Kevin Lankinen makes his sixth straight start in goal.
Pius Suter scored what turned out to be the game winner early in the second period. Suter has goals in back to back games and has a share of the team lead with six on the season – all coming in the past nine games.
Elias Pettersson is rounding into form with goals in back to back games and three in his last four. He has had a goal and an assist in each of the last two games – the first time this season he has recorded multiple point games. 
Rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki played 14:09 in his NHL debut. The 20-year-old registered a pair of shots on goal and saw 2:57 on the team’s top power play unit. 
The Canucks have now scored a power play goal in four straight games. They are 4/13 (30.8%) over that stretch and are now up to 12th in the NHL at 20.5% on the season.

The visitors

The Islanders arrive following a 4-3 overtime loss in Edmonton on Tuesday night. They were down 3-1 with eight minutes to play, but scored twice to force OT. Anders Lee had both third period goals after Kyle Palmieri scored late in the first period. Ilya Sorokin made 38 saves as Edmonton outshot New York 42-22 including 4-0 in overtime. With that heavy workload in mind, the Isles will give Semyon Varlamov the start tonight.
The Isles have dropped back to back 4-3 OT games. They also lost to New Jersey at home on Saturday. They have already been to overtime a league-high seven times through 16 games this season. They are 3-4 in games decided beyond regulation (1-4 in OT and 2-0 in shootouts).
Palmieri leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 14 points. Bo Horvat is second with five goals and 12 points. The Islanders are without Coquitlam native Mat Barzal who has missed six games and is sidelined indefinitely with an upper body injury.
The Islanders have struggled on special teams this season. They are tied for 29th on the power play at 12.5% and 31st on the penalty kill at 64.7%.
They get very little production from their defence corps. New York is tied with Detroit for fewest goals by blueliners (2) and only the Wings and Anaheim have fewer points from their defenders. Noah Dobson had 10 goals and 70 points last season but has 0 goals and six assists so far this season.
The Canucks beat the Islanders twice last season. These teams will meet again on Long Island on March 26th.
Tonight’s referees: Gord Dwyer & Pierre Lambert
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson

What we heard

Dakota Joshua on making his season debut: “It’s been a long time coming and it’ll be fun. It’s just nice to be back in the room with the guys and get back to work.”
Rick Tocchet on getting Joshua into the lineup: “It’s like making a major trade. He’s a big kid who’s got great hands. Obviously he’s played really well for this organization, especially last year. We’re really excited to have him back. He’s gone through a lot of stuff and I love the way he’s dealt with it. We’re just happy for him.”
Tocchet on Nils Höglander’s struggles of late: “I have to take some responsibility for that. I’ve got to get him out there. I think he needs a few more minutes. Has he made some tough decisions that I have not liked without the puck? He’s a kid, I’ve got to take responsibility and I’ve got to coach him better. I think it’s on me to get him out there more often. He came up to me this morning, to be quite honest, and said ‘Tocc, I’m not playing good for you’ and I told him ‘I’ve got to get you more ice time.” So I think it’s a give and take. He’s going to play with Dakota tonight and he’s going to have a good player to play with and they can work the corners together. And that’s what Hoggy is. He’s a buzzsaw around the net.”
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