It was a newsy morning around Rogers Arena with the announcement that JT Miller is back in the Vancouver Canucks line-up. Miller stepped away from the club to take a personal leave on November 19th and has missed the past 10 games.
Miller will be one of a handful of line-up changes Rick Tocchet is making as the Canucks (14-8-5) host the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers (18-9-2).

What we saw

Kevin Lankinen gets the start in goal tonight. He hasn’t played since a 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday. His last win came last Friday night when the Canucks opened their homestand against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With Miller returning, Aatu Räty is expected to be a healthy scratch for the first time since November 2nd at San Jose. Miller is likely to skate on a line with Brock Boeser and Nils Höglander, while Pius Suter returns to centre a third line of Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua.
On defence, Derek Forbort has been cleared to play. The veteran blueliner has dressed for just four games all season and has been out for six weeks with an undisclosed lower-body injury. He will be paired with Mark Friedman, who dresses for a second straight game.
The Canucks dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday in Thatcher Demko’s season debut. Last year’s Vezina runner–up stopped 21 of 25 shots in his first game action in eight months. Dakota Joshua, with his first goal of the season, Elias Pettersson with his eighth and Jake DeBrusk with his team-leading 13th scored for Vancouver.
For the sixth time this season and the second straight game, the Canucks opened the scoring at home. However, they fell to 0-4-2 in those games. 
Brock Boeser reaches the 500-game milestone when he and the Vancouver Canucks (14-8-5) host the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers (18-9-2) tonight at Rogers Arena. The team’s 2015 first-round draft pick has racked up 186 goals and 402 points in his time with the Canucks. He is the 27th player to appear in 500 games with the Canucks. He sits tied for 12th all-time in goals and 15th in points. 

The opponent

The Panthers roll into Vancouver with six wins and an overtime loss in their past seven games. They defeated Seattle 2-1 in a shootout on Tuesday in the opener of a five-game Western road trip. Aleksander Barkov scored his ninth goal of the season in the second period and was one of two Panthers to convert in the shootout. The Panthers captain has scored in three straight games and has five goals and five assists on a seven-game point streak. 
The Panthers are the fifth-highest-scoring team in the league (3.66 goals/game) and have the fifth-best power play in the NHL (27.4%). They have scored 11 power play goals in their last seven games. West Vancouver native Sam Reinhart leads Florida – and is second in the league – with 19 goals. He also leads the team and is tied for fifth in the NHL with 39 points.
On Monday, Matthew Tkachuk was the NHL’s First Star of the Week. Since November 17th, the feisty forward leads the league in scoring with 19 points (six goals and 13 assists in 11 games). Tkachuk celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday.
On top of everything else the Cats do well, they lead the league with seven shorthanded goals. No other team has more than four on the season. Reinhart has four of his own to pace the Panthers while on the penalty kill.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves in Seattle as Florida outshot the Kraken 33-18. The guy they call Bob has won his last four starts and is 13-5-1 on the season with a 2.81 GAA and an 89.6% save percentage.
The Canucks defeated the Panthers 3-2 in overtime on JT Miller’s goal when the teams met in Sunrise, FL on October 17th. Vancouver won both meetings between the teams last season including a 4-0 shutout at Rogers Arena last December.
Tonight’s referees: Steve Kozari & Morgan MacPhee
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on the return of JT Miller tonight: “I’m excited. He’s excited. The players are excited. He’s one of the best players in the league so when you get a player like that back it means a lot. He plays the game the way it should be played — with a lot of fire. I don’t expect anything different.”
JT Miller doesn’t think being away from the game for nearly a month will be an issue tonight: “I’m sure rust is expected. It think this weekend is four weeks. I’m going to try to keep it easy on myself. Play my game. Keep it simple. Got to play physical. Fun game to play against the defending champions.”
Teddy Blueger on having Miller around the group again: “I think it’s a big boost. We missed him in the room. He’s a big part of our leadership group and obviously a big player for us on the ice, especially offensively. We missed his firepower a little bit so I think it’s definitely a big boost for us.”
Make sure to join the Rink Wide Vancouver postgame livestream immediately following tonight’s game. Rink Wide will provide a full breakdown and comprehensive postgame coverage of the Canucks and Panthers. When the final buzzer sounds, be sure to log onto Rink Wide and join the YouTube live chat to discuss the game with other Canucks fans. Subscribe to the Rink Wide YouTube channel and never miss an episode.
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