The Vancouver Canucks (4-4) are back home for the first time in nearly two weeks when they host the Montreal Canadiens (6-3) in a 4 pm start at Rogers Arena. It’s the start of a busy weekend with the Canucks facing the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.

What we know

With the early puck drop, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate. So it will be early afternoon before Adam Foote reveals his line-up plans and starting goalie. The coach is scheduled to meet with the media around 1pm. At that time, Foote will be able to confirm that newly acquired Lukas Reichel will make his Canucks debut after being picked up from Chicago in a trade on Friday. Reichel will wear the same number 73 in Vancouver that he wore during his time with the Blackhawks.

The 23-year-old German has two goals and two assists in five games this season and has 22 goals and 58 points in 174 career NHL games.

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🚨 Lukas Reichel goals from the last couple years 🚨

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With a pair of weekend games, the Canucks will almost surely split their starters. Kevin Lankinen is likely to get the call against Montreal to give Thatcher Demko an additional day of rest after facing 35 shots in Nashville on Thursday.

The Canucks have dropped back-to-back games, scoring just once each in a pair of losses in Pittsburgh and Nashville. On Thursday, they fell 2-1 to the Predators. Max Sasson scored his third goal in his fifth game of the season already matching his total from 29 games as an NHL rookie.

The power play told the story of Thursday’s game. The Canucks went 0 for 5 including 90 seconds with a two-man advantage and generated just four shots on goal in 8:30 of power play time. The Canucks also surrendered a shorthanded goal to open the scoring midway through the second period. The power play is now four for 28 (14.3%) on the season.

Despite the recent power outage, the Canucks still managed to go 3-2 on a five game road trip. The team has played six of its first eight games on the road and it won’t be until tomorrow – Game 10 on the season – that the Canucks play consecutive games in the same city.

The Opponent

The Canadiens are here following a wild 6-5 loss in Edmonton on Thursday. Montreal trailed 3-1 midway through the second period yet held a 5-3 lead with nine minutes to play in the third. Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook each scored twice and Josh Anderson provided their other goal.

Caufield has a share of the league-lead with seven goals. Linemate Nick Suzuki shares the NHL lead with 11 assists and has a team-high 12 points on the season. Zach Bolduc and Oliver Kapinen are making early season impressions. Each has scored four times in the team’s first nine games and rookie Ivan Demidov will play his first game in Vancouver. The young Russian has a goal and five assists to start the season.

The Habs offence isn’t limited to the forward ranks. Defenceman Lane Hutson, the reigning Calder Trophy winner, is off to a quick start with a goal and seven assists. Only Colorado’s Cale Makar has more points among NHL defencemen.

As a team, the Canadiens 32 goals is tops in the NHL in the early stages of the new season. Their 10 first period goals are tied with Toronto for the league lead in that category.

Sam Montembault surrendered six goals on 29 shots on Thursday. As a result, Jakub Dobes is expected to get the call in goal this afternoon. Dobes is 4-0 on the season with a 1.47 GAA and a .950 save percentage. He’s allowed just six goals on 119 shots in four starts.

News and notes

The Habs took both meetings between these teams last season winning 5-4 OT in Montreal and 4-2 in Vancouver. The Canucks will visit Bell Centre on Monday January 12th.

Graham Skilliter and Brandon Schraeder will be the referees for tonight’s game.

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