The Vancouver Canucks (17-10-8) close out an eventful 2024 with a New Year’s Eve clash with the Calgary Flames (17-12-7) at Scotiabank Saddledome. The two teams are separated by just a single point in the Pacific Division and Western Conference standings.
The Canucks will be looking to bounce back after an epic collapse in their last game when they let a 4-1 lead get away in the final five minutes and fell 5-4 in overtime against Seattle on Saturday.
What we saw
Kevin Lankinen will return to the net for the Canucks for the first time since a 5-4 overtime loss to Ottawa on December 21st. He has served as the backup in each of the past two games. Lankinen is 10-1-1 on the road this season with a 2.05 GAA and a 92.6% save percentage.
The Canucks will be without captain Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson for a second straight game. Both are sidelined with undisclosed injuries. In their absence, the Canucks couldn’t make a three-goal lead stand up against Seattle and settled for the disappointing overtime setback.
Brock Boeser scored twice on Saturday and has five goals in his past three games. Jake DeBrusk netted his team-leading 16th goal of the season in his 500th NHL game. Conor Garland, who is the team’s scoring leader without Hughes and Pettersson, had the Canucks’ other goal, snapping an 11-game drought.
JT Miller has points in three straight games and has seven assists in the eight games since returning from his personal leave of absence. However, he has gone nine games without a goal and hasn’t scored since an empty netter sealed a November 16th victory over Chicago.
There are no lineup changes for the Canucks for this match.
The Canucks have just one win but also only one regulation loss in their last five games (1-1-3); however, they have dropped three straight on the road (0-1-2). They have also come up short in their last five trips to overtime and are now 3-7 in games decided in OT this season and 3-8 including shootouts.
The team is 44-23-14 in 81 regular season games since January 1st as it plays its final game of the calendar year tonight. The last time the Canucks played on New Year’s Eve was two years ago. They fell 3-2 in Calgary that night. Sheldon Dries and Elias Pettersson scored the Vancouver goals that night, and Spencer Martin was in net. That was early in a 2-10 stretch that ultimately led to the dismissal of Bruce Boudreau in January 2023.
The opponent
The Flames are back home after splitting a weekend road trip in San Jose and Las Vegas. They beat the Sharks 3-1 on Saturday night but fell 3-0 to the Golden Knights 24 hours later. That put an end to a five-game point streak (3-0-2).
Jonathan Huberdeau, who scored twice in the Bay Area on Saturday, leads the Flames in goals (15) and points (27). He and Nazem Kadri (25) are the only Calgary players with more than 20 points on the season.
The Flames scored four or more goals in each of their first three games of the season. They have scored more than three goals just twice in the 33 games since then. They are 27th in the league in overall offence (2.58 goals/game) and tied for 30th in 5-on-5 goals.
Former Canuck Andrei Kuzmenko has one goal in the 29 games he’s played this season. It was a power play goal against Chicago on October 15th, so he has yet to find the back of the net at even strength. He has gone 25 games without scoring.
Rookie Dustin Wolf has been impressive in the Calgary net, going 11-5-2 with a 2.70 GAA, a .912% save percentage and a pair of shutouts. He was in goal for the win in San Jose on Saturday. He leads all first year netminders in the NHL in several statistical categories including games played, time on ice, saves made, victories and shutouts. With 19 career victories, Wolf has matched Collin Delia for second all-time among California-born netminders. Thatcher Demko leads the way with 118.
Calgary is one of the best home ice teams in the NHL, with a 12-4-3 record so far. The Flames are 8-1-3 in their last 12 games on home ice.
The Canucks and Flames have split their first two meetings this season – both played in Vancouver. Calgary stormed back from an early 3-0 deficit to win 6-5 in overtime on opening night. A month later, the Canucks skated to a 3-1 victory. The Canucks will make one more visit to the Foothills City on March 12th.
Tonight’s referees: Ghislain Hebert & Mitch Dunning
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson
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