The Vancouver Canucks (11-6-3) shoot for a piece of franchise history tonight when they face the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins (7-12-4) at PPG Paints Arena. The Canucks can match the 2010-11 team with a ninth straight road victory.
The Canucks ran their road win streak to eight with a 2-0 win in Boston last night. Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves for his 10th win and second shutout of the season while former Bruin Jake DeBrusk scored on a second period power play and Conor Garland sealed the deal with an empty netter. The Canucks won despite being outshot 32-15 and outchanced 27-8 at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick.
DeBrusk has opened the scoring with the man-advantage in consecutive games and now has three goals in his past two games and goals in five straight road outings. He and Garland joined the logjam of Canucks sharing the team lead for goals on the season. There are now seven players tied with six goals apiece. 
Tonight the Canucks will complete their second set of back to back games this season. After playing last night and travelling to Pittsburgh, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate so line-up information is unclear. Arturs Silovs is expected to get the start in goal. He allowed four goals in a 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers in his last start last Tuesday night. Look for rookie Max Sasson to play his second NHL game after collecting an assist in his debut on Saturday in Ottawa. 
Sasson was a healthy scratch last night, but Rick Tocchet suggested Tuesday morning that Sasson was an option to play in Pittsburgh. Arshdeep Bains is the likely candidate to come out of the line-up after playing just 7:10 in Boston. However, it’s possible Tocchet could send a message to Nils Höglander who saw a season-low 7:40 of ice time against the Bruins and has now gone 15 games since his last goal and 10 games without a point. The coach will meet with the media at 2pm PT at which time he’s expected to confirm his line-up.
The Canucks reached the 20-game mark last night with just six regulation losses. Only three teams in the league have fewer at this stage of the season (Winnipeg and Minnesota have four apiece and Carolina has five).
Brock Boeser returned to the Canucks line-up last night after missing seven games with a head injury. He logged 17:11 of ice in his first game since November 7th. In his career, Boeser has scored 11 goals in 12 games against the Penguins including his first NHL hattrick in Pittsburgh on November 4, 2017.

The opponent

The Penguins are in a free fall after a 6-1 loss at home to Utah on Saturday. Sidney Crosby’s 600th career goal was the only highlight as Pittsburgh lost its third in a row and sixth in the last seven. The lone win in that stretch was a 4-3 shootout victory against San Jose. The Penguins last regulation win was a 4-2 decision over Washington on November 8th. After a 3-2 start to the season, the Pens are 4-10-4 in their last 18 hockey games.
Crosby leads the Penguins with eight goals and 21 points. Evgeni Malkin is just a point behind. They’re the only two players on the club with more than 12 points. Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell are both sitting with a dozen points. Former Canuck Anthony Beauvillier and defenceman Marcus Pettersson are the highest scorers under the age of 30 on the team with nine points apiece. 
Incredibly, the Penguins do not have a goal from a player younger than 25 this season.
On Monday, they added 23-year-old forward Phil Tomasino from Nashville in exchange for a fourth round draft pick. The former first rounder has no goals and just one assist in 11 games this season.
While the Penguins have seven wins on the season, they have won just four times in regulation. Pittsburgh is the most permissive team in the league averaging 3.96 goals against per game. Couple that with the fact they have scored just 12 times in their past seven outings and it’s clear why it’s been such a struggle for them this season.
The Canucks beat the Penguins 4-3 in Vancouver on October 26th. They scored three goals in a wild 65 second sequence that erased a 2-0 deficit and propelled the club to victory. Last season in Pittsburgh, Elias Pettersson had two goals and two assists, including the game-winner, as the Canucks defeated the Penguins 4-3 in overtime.
Tonight’s referees: Michael Markovic & Furman South
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson
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