The Vancouver Canucks (16-22-5) reach the midway mark of their six-game road trip when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs (21-15-7) at Scotiabank Arena. Tonight’s game is set for a 4pm PT face-off on Hockey Night In Canada. The Canucks are out to snap a five-game winless skid (0-3-2) while the Leafs have collected points in eight straight (6-0-2). What we saw
After a team day off Friday, the Canucks conducted a full team morning skate in Toronto. Linus Karlsson will return to the right wing on a line with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk while Liam Öhgren bumps up to play with Max Sasson and the struggling Brock Boeser. Evander Kane, who has gone 10 games without a goal, drops to the fourth line with Aatu Räty and Nils Höglander.
On defence, the Canucks are reuniting
Marcus Pettersson and Filip Hronek on a top shutdown pair. Zeev Buium will skate alongside Tyler Myers. And Elias Pettersson will remain in the line-up for a second straight game after being scratched for three of the previous four outings. He will partner with Tom Willander.
Thatcher Demko gets the start in goal. He’s looking to snap a personal five game losing skid (0-4-1). He allowed four goals on 19 shots in a 5-3 loss in Buffalo in his last outing on Tuesday. His last victory came on December 19th against the New York Islanders.
The Canucks have dropped a season-high five straight following a 5-1 loss in Detroit on Thursday. Jake DeBrusk scored on a second period power play. He has scored in back to back games and three of the last four. His last eight goals have come with the man-advantage.
One area the Canucks have had success lately is the power play which has clicked in each of its last four games and is 5/16 (31.3%) over that span. However, the Canucks have scored just four goals at 5-on-5 over their last four games. They have been outscored 5-0 in first periods in those games and have given up the first goal in eight of their last nine outings.
Two days shy of his 31st birthday, former Leaf David Kämpf returns to Toronto with two goals and an assist in 22 games since signing with Canucks in mid-November. Two of those points came in a December 30th game against Philadelphia.
Conor Garland, who has missed the past four games with an injury, rejoined the Canucks and took part in this morning’s skate. Garland along with Teddy Blueger and Filip Chytil all took to the ice in red non-contact jerseys.
The Opponent
The Leafs are coming off a 2-1 overtime victory in Philadelphia on Thursday. Easton Cowan’s sixth goal of the season was the OT winner after Scott Laughton scored a shorthanded goal with six minutes remaining in the third period to tie the game 1-1. In addition to tying the game, Laughton also won 19 of the 20 face-offs he took. Dennis Hildeby stopped 22 of 23 shots for the win in goal. Joseph Woll gets the start in net tonight. He is 9-4-2 with a 2.69 GAA and a .916 save percentage.
The Leafs have found ways to grind out results despite missing leading scorer William Nylander for the past six games. However, Nylander will make his return to the line-up tonight. He has 41 points in 33 games.
Auston Matthews leads the team with 21 goals. He had scored six times in three games prior to being held off the scoresheet in Philadelphia. Last Saturday, he passed Mats Sundin to become the all-time goal scoring leader in Maple Leafs history with his 421st career goal. Matthews has scored 18 times in 25 games against the Canucks.
Toronto has the second best home record in the league this season going 15-5-5 (.700). The Leafs are the second highest-scoring team on home ice with 91 goals and they have won six straight at Scotiabank Arena.
The Canucks will see former teammates Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Troy Stecher on the same defensive pair on the other side tonight. However, they will not encounter familiar faces Chris Tanev or Dakota Joshua who are both out of the line-up with injuries.
News and notes
A year ago, after winter weather in Raleigh, NC scuttled their travel plans, the Canucks flew into Toronto on game day last January and blanked the Leafs 3-0. Toronto will make its lone appearance in Vancouver three weeks from tonight on January 31st. The Canucks swept the Leafs last season, have won three straight and four of the last five meetings.
The referees for tonight’s game are Jean Hebert and Michael Markovic.
What we heard
Adam Foote on Conor Garland’s status: “Garly’s close. He could make it by the end of this trip which would be one of the last three. So we’ll see.”
David Kämpf on returning to Toronto to face the Leafs after terminating his contract in November: “Of course, I’m excited. I have a lot of friends there on the other side. It will be an exciting game. I don’t want talk about it too much. I made a decision. I think I’m happy with my decision. I’m here and I’m just moving forward.”
Don’t forget to join Rink Wide Vancouver for full postgame coverage after this game – and every game. The livestream starts moments after the final buzzer. Rink Wide is the place for full postgame analysis and discussion. Join the live YouTube chat with your thoughts on the hockey game. Tonight’s Rink Wide will originate live on location from Greta Bar YVR.
Sponsored by bet365
