The Vancouver Canucks (27-21-11) wrap up a five-game road trip when they visit the Seattle Kraken (25-31-4) at Climate Pledge Arena.
The team is looking to rebound from a disappointing 5-2 loss in Anaheim on Thursday.

What we expect

Perhaps it was the Space Needle interefering with all communication out of the Emerald City, but information was hard to come by about the Canucks plans for tonight’s game.
Kevin Lankinen is expected to start in goal after serving as the backup against the Ducks on Thursday. Lankinen made 24 saves, picking up his 20th win of the season in a 3-2 overtime victory in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Lankinen is 4-1-1 in his last six decisions.
As far as the rest of the line-up is concerned, Rick Tocchet confirmed he will go with 12 forwards and six defencemen instead of the 11/7 configuration used in the past two games. However, the coach did not reveal which defenceman will sit and which of his two available forwards – Arshdeep Bains and Nils Aman – will draw in.
The Canucks have built 2-0 leads in each of their past two games and have held the lead in the second period of all four of their games since the 4 Nations break. They are 1-3 in those games, with a total of seven goals scored. The team has a grand total of 16 goals in its last eight outings. While the team has opened the scoring in eight straight games and 11 of the last 12, the Canucks have been outscored 7-0 in third periods on this current road trip.
On Thursday, Tyler Myers and Pius Suter staked the Canucks to a 2-0 lead in Anaheim before the Ducks scored five unanswered goals to win handily. Arturs Silovs allowed four goals on 24 shots before the Ducks scored into an empty net.
The Canucks have managed more than three goals only once in their last 20 games – a 5-2 win at St. Louis on January 27th. That is the only time the team has scored five goals in a game since December 6th, a span of 34 games.
Elias Pettersson has gone 13 games without a goal and has one goal in 19 games since Christmas. But he’s not alone. NHL hits leader Kiefer Sherwood continues to be physical. However he has also gone 13 games since his last goal and has just two in his last 21 outings.
Defenceman Marcus Pettersson will appear in his 500th NHL game tonight. He is the fifth player to reach that milestone in a Canucks jersey this season along with Derek Forbort, Danton Heinen, Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk.
All time, the Canucks are 8-4-1 against the Kraken including a 5-2 mark in Seattle.

The opponent

The Kraken return to action for the first time since a 7-2 loss in St. Louis on Tuesday. The team has dropped consecutive games and has just three wins in its last 10 outings. As such, Seattle sits 28th in the overall NHL standings.
Jared McCann leads the Kraken in scoring with 43 points, followed by Chandler Stephenson with 40. Jaden Schwartz is the team’s top goal scorer with 19 on the season. Eeli Tolvanen is second with 16. Overall, Seattle has nine double-digit goal scorers.
Shane Wright is coming into his own with 16 goals and 34 points. The 20-year-old is the Kraken’s leading scorer since the start of December.
One of the issues for Seattle is its power play, which ranks 25th in the NHL at 18.3%. Wright leads the team with six power play goals on the season, while no one else on the team has more than four. Their penalty kill has been an issue, too, of late struggling at 69.4% since Christmas.
Joey D’Accord has provided credible netminding, posting a 20-15-3 record with a 2.55 GAA and a .915 save percentage. He has delivered 20 of the team’s 25 wins on the season.
The teams have split two very eventful games this season. Seattle erased a 4-1 deficit with under five minutes to play to pull off a stunning 5-4 overtime victory in Vancouver on December 28th. A week later, the Kraken battled back from a 3-1 third period deficit to force overtime before the Canucks 4-3 shootout win. It’s the team’s only shootout victory of the season and the last time they went beyond overtime. These teams will meet one more time on April 2nd at Rogers Arena.
After tonight, the Canucks will play seven of their next eight games on home ice.
Tonight’s referees: Jean Hebert & Cody Beach
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson
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.
Sponsored by bet365