The Vancouver Canucks (20-16-10) visit the Edmonton Oilers (29-15-3) in a highly-anticipated rematch of Saturday’s showdown that ended with fireworks and led to suspensions.
Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers will both serve the second games of their matching three-game bans for cross-checking match penalties assessed in the dying seconds of the Canucks 3-2 victory.
What we saw
The Canucks held a full morning skate at Rogers Place. Rick Tocchet says that Linus Karlsson, recalled from AHL Abbotsford yesterday, is a game time decision. Karlsson played two games for the Canucks in the week leading into the team’s Christmas break. Rookie defenceman Elias Pettersson, who was also promoted from the minors yesterday, is not going to draw in tonight meaning his NHL debut will have to wait.
The Canucks will go with the same defence group they used in Tuesday’s disappointing 3-2 loss to Buffalo. That means Mark Friedman will stay in the line-up and play a second consecutive game. Thatcher Demko makes his fourth straight start in goal tonight. He made 23 saves against the Sabres, but has just one victory since Christmas. Phil Di Giuseppe scored his first goal of the season on Tuesday while Elias Pettersson netted his 11th goal – and his first since December 23rd. The Canucks carried a 2-1 lead to the third period, but suffered their first regulation loss when leading after 40 minutes.
Pettersson and JT Miller have scored in the same game twice all season. It first happened on October 25th against Pittsburgh. The only other occasion was November 16th against Chicago when Miller scored into an empty net.
Miller has gone seven games without a goal. Jake DeBrusk, the team’s leading goal scorer, has also gone seven without scoring and has one goal in his last 11 games. Brock Boeser has one goal in his last 10 games and Conor Garland has one in his last nine. Pius Suter has now gone 21 games since his last goal.
As a team, the Canucks have managed just 11 goals in the past seven games. Captain Quinn Hughes leads the way with four of them. He is the only player with more than one goal over that stretch and has netted three of the team’s last six goals.
The Canucks have picked a point in six of their last 10 road games, however they have managed just two wins in that stretch (2-4-4) and have been outscored 30-18. They have averaged just 23.1 shots per game in those 10 outings.
The opponent
The Oilers have dropped back to back games after falling 3-2 in Vancouver and then falling 3-2 at home to Washington on Tuesday night. Leon Draisaitl scored his team leading 34th goal of the season against the Capitals. Corey Perry had their other. Draisaitl scored both of his team’s goals in Vancouver on Saturday so Perry is the only other Oiler to score a goal in the past two games.
The Oilers lost despite holding the Capitals to just 14 shots on goal. That’s a season low for shots against and the fourth time this season Edmonton has held an opponent in the teens. Prior to these two losses, the Oilers had won four in a row and eight of their last nine contests.
Without McDavid’s 65 points, there is a remarkable gap in the Oiler scoring ranks. Draisaitl is second in the league with 71 points while the next highest scoring forward in the line-up tonight is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who has 27. Defenceman Evan Bouchard has 35 points on the season.
Calvin Pickard gets the start in goal for Edmonton.He has won three straight and seven of his last eight outings. He’s 11-4 on the season with a 2.53 GAA and an 89.7% save percentage.
These teams have split the first two meetings of their three-game regular season series. Edmonton won 7-3 on November 9th while the Canucks posted a 3-2 victory last weekend. Both games were played in Vancouver. Last season, the Canucks won both of their regular season visits to Edmonton.
Tonight’s referees: Trevor Hanson & Brandon Blandina
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson
What we heard
Rick Tocchet on what he needs from his group tonight: “We need a little bit more urgency from people. We know that. But we have to stop saying that. Now, it’s action.”
Tocchet on the belief that his guys should be ready for anticipated rematch with Oilers: “I’m glad we’re playing this especially after our Buffalo game. We need this. You have to embrace this is as a player. This is a great game to coach. This is a great game to play.”
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