The Vancouver Canucks (18-12-10) reach the midway mark of their 2024-25 season when they face the Carolina Hurricanes (25-15-2) at Lenovo Centre in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Canucks are looking to snap a three-game winless skid as they play the third game of a five-game Eastern road trip.

The Canucks

With next to no information flowing from the Canucks morning skate, it will be closer to game time to know who is starting in goal. The Canucks sent Arturs Silovs back to Abbotsford yesterday, which indicates Thatcher Demko is ready to start one of the two games this weekend. He served as the backup on Wednesday in Washington but hasn’t played since leaving a game in Seattle on January 2nd with back spasms. Kevin Lankinen has started three straight and appeared in five in a row.
Questions remain about the status of Elias Pettersson, who has missed six straight games with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Pettersson participated a full practice on Sunday in Montreal and has been listed as a game time decision in each of the last two games, but has not suited up since December 23rd against San Jose. Pettersson would need to be activated from injured reserve to play tonight, but the Canucks do have an open roster spot to facilitate that transaction if the centre is ready to return to game action.
While head coach Rick Tocchet was not asked about Pettersson’s availability today, he did mention ahead of their last game that the decision was left up to the player for when he feels comfortable to return to game action.
Post Media’s Patrick Johnston wrote today that the sources told him Pettersson would return to the lineup tonight.
On Wednesday, the Canucks went to overtime for the sixth time in 10 games and the 10th time in their last 19 outings. They fell 2-1 to the Capitals in Washington to drop to 3-9 in games decided in OT this season. The club has now dropped seven straight contests settled in overtime. With so many games going beyond regulation time, the Canucks have collected at least a point in eight of their last 11 outings.
Conor Garland had the lone Vancouver goal against the Caps. It came on a late second period power play. Garland now has three goals in his last six games and 11 on the season. The Canucks established a season-high for shots in a period, with 21 in the middle frame in Washington. At the same time, the Canucks held the Caps to just 18 shots on the night – a season-low for shots surrendered. That included allowing only two shots in the third period.
Five-on-five offence has been hard to come by, with the Canucks held without a five-on-five goal in three of their last five outings (at Calgary vs Nashville and in Washington). Overall, the team has just nine total goals in its last five games. The Canucks are 1-2-3 in six games since Christmas and have just two victories in their last 10 games (2-5-3).
Quinn Hughes has three assists in his two games back after missing four with a hand injury. The captain has a goal and nine helpers in his last six games and leads the Canucks with 45 points on the season. JT Miller had a four-point night in Montreal on Monday (two goals & two assists) and has two goals and 10 points in his last eight games.
Last season the Canucks hit the halfway mark of their schedule with a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders to give them a record of 27-11-3.

The opponent

The Hurricanes are playing for the second night in a row after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on home ice last night. Jordan Staal led the way with his fourth career hat trick, while Jackson Blake, Eric Robinson and Seth Jarvis had the others. Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves for the Hurricanes, who were down 2-0 early before scoring six of the final seven goals of the game.
Because they played last night, the Canes did not hold a morning skate. They have a decision to make in goal, either going right back to Kochetkov or turning to veteran Dustin Tokarski, who has appeared in four games for Carolina this season after starting the year with AHL Chicago.
The Hurricanes got off to a fast start this season, going 14-4, but they are 11-11-2 in their last 24 games and have alternated wins and losses in their eight games since Christmas. Carolina is 16-5 on home ice and 7-2 in its last nine games at home. Only Vegas and Toronto have more home-ice wins this season.
Jack Roslovic leads the Hurricanes with 17 goals, while Martin Necas is the team’s top scorer with 48 points, and Sebastian Aho has 44. Necas has 15 goals on the season, however, he has just one goal in his last 16 games.
39-year-old Brent Burns is set to appear in his 1457th career game tonight. He is second to Ryan Suter among active players and will join Glen Wesley in 28th place all time tonight. The veteran blueliner has appeared in 885 consecutive games – the sixth-longest Ironman streak in NHL history. Tonight he will play his 82nd career game against the Canucks, the most among active NHL’ers.
Carolina boasts the second-best penalty kill in the NHL at 84.4% and allows the second-fewest shots per game at 25.4.
It’s a big weekend for the Staal family. Not only did Jordan have the hat trick last night, but the Hurricanes will retire his brother Eric’s number 12 jersey ahead of Sunday’s home game against Anaheim.
Sebastian Aho scored the winner as the Canes beat the Canucks 4-3 in overtime in October. Vancouver took both games from Carolina last season winning each by a one-goal margin.
Tonight’s referees: Francis Charron & Brandon Schrader
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson
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