The Vancouver Canucks (27-22-11) open a four-game homestand tonight when they play host to the Anaheim Ducks (27-26-7) at Rogers Arena.
For a third stint since Christmas, the Canucks will be forced to go without captain Quinn Hughes who is sidelined again with an undisclosed injury. Hughes has missed 10 of the club’s 26 games since December 28th.

What we saw

After returning to the lineup for three games, Quinn Hughes has been ruled out for tonight’s game with what Rick Tocchet is now calling a lower-body injury for the team’s leading scorer. Rookie Elias Pettersson will return to the line-up and is expected to slide into Hughes’ spot and be paired with Filip Hronek. Tocchet also said this morning that he expects all of his healthy players to be available for tonight’s game. He noted that can change, but as of Wednesday morning, he hadn’t been informed that any players would be held out of the lineup for trade-related reasons.
Kevin Lankinen gets the start in goal after allowing five goals in Seattle on Saturday. Lankinen was the back-up last week when the Canucks faced the Ducks. He is 3-0 lifetime against Anaheim.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki returns to the NHL lineup for the first time since January 16th. The rookie has a pair of goals and an assist in 11 NHL games. Lekkerimäki is expected to skate on a line with speedsters Filip Chytil and Drew O’Connor.
With his name swirling in trade talk, Pius Suter has scored in back-to-back games and now has a career-high 16 on the season.
Suter, Chytil and Dakota Joshua had the Canucks goals in a 6-3 loss in Seattle on Saturday. That completed a 1-4 road trip to resume play following the 4 Nations Face-Off. 
The Canucks have outscored opponents 5-1 in first periods, but have been outscored 9-0 in third periods of their last five games. They have held a second period lead in all five of those games but managed to win just one of them.
Over the team’s last nine games, the Canucks penalty kill has allowed just one goal (in Utah) and is 21/22 in that span. With Dakota Joshua’s short-handed goal in Seattle on Saturday, the PK has scored as many goals as it has surrendered since February 1st. Overall, the Canucks penalty kill is sixth in the NHL at 82.0% and since the middle of December is third (84.4%).
Tonight is the club’s final game before Friday’s noon Pacific time trade deadline.

The opponent

Anaheim arrives in town on the heels of a 6-2 romp in Edmonton last night. Mason McTavish scored twice, while Cutter Gauthier and Jackson Lacombe each had three assists. The defensive pair of Lacombe and Radko Gudas were on the ice for five of the Ducks’ six goals. Lukas Dostal made 32 saves for the win. With back-to-back outings, John Gibson is likely to get the nod in net tonight. 
With a regulation victory tonight, Anaheim will pull within two points of the Canucks in the Western Conference Wild Card chase. Frank Vatrano leads the Ducks with 18 goals on the season, while Troy Terry is the team’s scoring leader with 45 points. 
With their win last night, the Ducks are 9-3-1 in their last 13 games and tied for fifth in the NHL in points over that span. McTavish has 10 goals in his last 14 games, while Lacombe carries a career-best six-game point streak into action tonight. The young blueliner has a pair of goals and seven assists during that stretch. 
Trevor Zegras returned to the Ducks lineup last night after serving a three-game suspension for a high hit on Detroit’s Michael Rasmussen 10 days ago. Zegras has three goals and four assists in the last nine games he’s played.
The Ducks defeated the Canucks 5-2 last Thursday in Anaheim. That evened the season series at one win apiece. Anaheim will be back in Vancouver one more time this season for a 1 pm start on Saturday, April 5th.
Tonight’s referees: Chris Schlenker & Peter MacDougall
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on decision to sit Quinn Hughes tonight: “He’ll get a bunch of treatment. today and we’ll go from there. I don’t know how many days, we’re going to shut him down tonight and we’ll see how he is tomorrow. That’s really what the injury is right now. So how it works out. See the severity. Every day it kind of changes. He feels better and can he get through a practice?”
Brock Boeser on the emotions of playing what could be his final game as a Vancouver Canuck: “I’m trying not to really think about that. I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen. I’m trying to focus on the game tonight. Obviously, it might be a little difficult but I’m going to do the best I can to really dial it in and be prepared to go out there and work hard and continue to be a leader and try to help our team win a hockey game.”
Pius Suter on hearing his name in trade reports including one last night that he was on his way to Dallas: “Yeah, I heard that one a little later on. Somebody commented on my Instagram and said ‘good luck in Dallas’. I try to stay off social media. If something is going on, you’ll hear about it from the people in charge.”
Make sure to join the Rink Wide Vancouver postgame live stream immediately following tonight’s game. Rink Wide will provide a full breakdown and comprehensive coverage of the Canucks game. 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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