The Vancouver Canucks (18-11-8) are right back to work when they host the Nashville Predators (11-20-7) at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks are coming off a 4-3 shootout win last night in Seattle and will make a quick stop at home before heading out on a five-game road trip.

What we know

Completing their fourth set of back-to-back games of the season and playing for the third time in four nights in three different cities, the Canucks were held off the ice this morning. 
However, Rick Tocchet met with the media at Rogers Arena this morning. He confirmed Kevin Lankinen will start tonight after making 13 saves and stopping all three shootout shots he faced in relief of Thatcher Demko last night. He also says Arturs Silovs has been recalled from Abbotsford and will serve as the backup. Tocchet had no update on Demko, who left last night’s game in the second period with back spasms. 
Both Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson will miss their fourth straight games, but both will travel with the team when it flies east on Saturday. Tocchet said he didn’t think there would be any changes on defence for tonight’s game.
JT Miller had an interesting night in the Emerald City. He was the only player to score in the shootout. He also had the primary assist on Tyler Myers’ third period goal. However, Miller took a pair of minor penalties and was in the box for the Kraken’s second goal of the night. He was also the low Canuck in 5-on-5 ice time last night in Seattle, playing just 10:01. Miller has six assists on a five-game point streak but has now gone 11 games without a goal.
Myers logged a season-high 25:47 last night and led the Canucks with five shots on goal and 11 attempts. That was the most ice Myers has seen in a game since December 30, 2021, against Los Angeles.
Conor Garland has scored in two of the past three games and, last night, became the sixth Canucks skater this season to reach double-digits in goals. And Max Sasson scored his second goal of the season last night and now has six points in his first 15 NHL games. 
The Canucks are 7-7-6 on home ice this season and haven’t played on home ice since letting a 4-1 lead get away in a 5-4 overtime loss against Seattle last Saturday. The Canucks are tied with Pittsburgh for most home-ice goals allowed so far this season (73).
The win in Seattle last night boosted the Canucks record against Western Conference foes to 9-4-5. They are 3-1-3 against the Central Division with their lone outright loss coming against the Predators.

The opponent

The Predators have been idle since a 5-3 loss in Minnesota on New Year’s Eve. That was the team’s third straight loss since the Christmas break and a rough start to a six-game road trip. The Preds also fell 7-4 in St. Louis and 3-0 in Winnipeg.
Despite the loss to the Wild, Nashville registered a season-high 46 shots on goal. Jonathan Marchessault, Ryan O’Reilly and Colton Sissons had the Predator goals. Preds forward Zachary L’Hereux was assessed a match penalty for slew footing Wild captain Jared Spurgeon in the second period. On Thursday, he was suspended for three games and will begin serving that tonight.
Juuse Saros had a rare night off from game action in Minnesota and served as the backup after playing in Winnipeg the night before. He will return to the crease and get the start for the Predators tonight. Saros is 8-16-6 on the season with a 2.82 GAA and a .903% save percentage. Three of his eight victories have been shutouts.
Nashville sits 30th in the overall NHL standings and has the fewest wins in the league this season. One of the biggest issues has been the team’s play away from home. The Predators are just 3-14-4 on the road and have been outscored 69-38. However, one of those wins was in Vancouver on November 17.
The Preds are the lowest-scoring team in the league, averaging 2.39 goals per game. Filip Forsberg leads the team with 30 points, while Jonathan Marchessault is the team leader with 14 goals, with Steven Stamkos right behind him with 11. Marchessault was slow to find his groove after signing in Nashville in the off-season, but he has five goals in his last five games and 10 in his previous 18.
Captain Roman Josi has 24 points; however, he is also minus-24 on the season. On Tuesday, he logged a season-high 32:30 minutes of ice time. He played 12:50 of the third period, including the final 5:12 of the game.
The Canucks and Preds will meet for the final time this season later this month. Vancouver will be in Nashville for the middle game of a three-game road trip on January 29th.
Tonight’s referees: Mitch Dunning & Dan O’Rourke
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