The Vancouver Canucks (22-17-10) will attempt to match their season-high for consecutive victories when they take on the Dallas Stars (32-17-1) at American Airlines Center.
The Canucks have won three in a row after defeating the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and, most recently, the Nashville Predators.

What we know

The Canucks will ice the same lineup they used in Wednesday’s 3-1 win in Nashville. That means Thatcher Demko makes a second straight start. Demko posted a season-high 31 saves in the win over the Predators. He is 7-0-1 lifetime against Dallas with a 2.10 GAA, 93.2% save percentage and a shutout.
Linus Karlsson’s first NHL goal was the game-winner on Wednesday. Pius Suter sealed the victory into an empty net and has now scored in back-to-back games after going 23 games without a goal. Nils Höglander had the team’s other goal. 
Kiefer Sherwood, who remains on IR with an undisclosed injury, will miss a fourth straight game. 
Captain Quinn Hughes has recorded three consecutive multi-point games to boost his team-leading point total to 58 on the season. His defence partner Tyler Myers turns 35 on Saturday. He will join Ian Cole, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, and Brad Richardson as players over 35 to play for the Canucks since the pandemic.
The Canucks have opened the scoring in each outing and have not trailed at any point on their three-game win streak. They have also allowed just four goals in those three games and, in their last five victories, have surrendered a total of six goals.

The opponent

The Stars are the only team in the NHL the Canucks have yet to face this season. Dallas is coming off a 4-3 overtime win in Vegas on Tuesday. Wyatt Johnston capped a natural hat trick with the game-winner just 20 seconds into OT. Mavrik Bourque had their other goal while Jake Oettinger made 25 saves for his 25th victory of the season – that is second in the league behind Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck. Oettinger gets the start in goal tonight.
Tuesday’s win came at a cost, however, as top defenceman Miro Heiskaen left the game with a lower-body injury midway through the third period after an awkward collision with Mark Stone. The Stars ice-time leader and 25-point blueliner is listed as week to week and has withdrawn from Finland’s team for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
Veteran Matt Duchene leads the Stars with 48 points, while Roope Hintz is the team’s leading goal scorer with 20 on the season. Jason Robertson got off to a slow start this season but is heating up in a big way. Since Christmas, Robertson is fourth in the league in scoring with 10 goals and 23 points in 17 games. Wyatt Johnston has 22 points over that span.
As a team, the Stars are just one point back of Washington for the league with 25 points since the holiday break. They are 13-4-1 in their last 18 games.
The Stars are the third-best defensive team in the NHL, averaging 2.46 goals against per game, and that number drops to 2.23 goals against at home, where they are 18-7-1 this season.
Dallas has the league’s best penalty kill on home ice at 90.6%, but that is offset by the worst home ice power play in the NHL at 11.7%.
Oddly, veteran Sam Steel has eight points in 10 career games against Vancouver. They are all goals, including his lone NHL hat trick in 2019 with Anaheim.
These teams will meet twice more this season. Dallas will be in Vancouver on March 9th while the Canucks will return to the Lone Star State for an April 8th contest. The Stars took the three-game season series from the Canucks in 2023-24, winning twice, with one of the victories in overtime.
Tonight’s referees: Corey Syvret & Francis Charron
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on what he’s expecting from the Stars: “Strong defensively, really structured. Pete DeBoer is a really good coach. They do some things we have to be ready for in their D-zone coverages. They’re really good defending the rush so we have to make sure we manage the puck. You have to play a 60-minute game against these guys, you can’t have a lot of lapses, they make you pay.”
Tocchet on what team is doing well on three-game win streak: “I think we’re breaking out the puck better and obviously getting some timely goals from different guys. That’s a big positive for us.”
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