The holiday break is over, and it’s back to work for the Vancouver Canucks (17-10-7), who return to action when they host the Seattle Kraken (15-19-2) in a 1 pm start at Rogers Arena.
However, the Canucks are expected to be missing their top two scorers in Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, after both were absent from the team’s Friday practice with undisclosed injuries. In their six full seasons together in the NHL, Hughes and Pettersson have never missed the same game.
The line-up
With the early start, there will be no morning skate so the Canucks line-up for the game may not be disclosed until warm-up. At practice on Friday – the team’s first skate since the holiday break – the Canucks had Jake DeBrusk playing left wing with JT Miller and Brock Boeser while Pius Suter slid to the middle on a line with Nils Höglander and Conor Garland. On defence, Derek Forbort was paired with Tyler Myers, Carson Soucy, and Noah Juulsen formed a duo, while Erik Brännström skated alongside Vincent Desharnais. Brännström is expected to quarterback the team’s top power play unit.
Hughes leads the Canucks with 42 points while Pettersson has 28 after scoring twice in the team’s last game last Monday against San Jose. Pettersson took one third period shift before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury. Kiefer Sherwood and Brock Boeser had the Canucks other goals. If Hughes and Pettersson are indeed out of the line-up, Conor Garland will be the Canucks leading scorer in uniform. He has 27 points on the season.
The Hughes absence is a massive blow in every facet of the game. Since November 23rd, Hughes is second to Nathan MacKinnon in NHL in scoring with 23 points (four goals and 19 assists). This was supposed to be his 400th NHL game, so that milestone will have to wait. Meanwhile, Jake DeBrusk will skate in his 500th NHL game this afternoon.
Thatcher Demko made 28 saves against San Jose for his second win of the season. The Canucks are now 2-1-2 in Demko’s five starts since returning from a knee injury on December 10th. Rick Tocchet stated after Friday’s practice that the San Diego native will get the start in goal today.
The victory over the Sharks snapped a three-game winless streak (0-1-2) and sent the Canucks into a three-day Christmas break on a positive note. This afternoon the club will attempt to win consecutive games on home ice for the first time all season.
The opponent
The Kraken make their way up the I-5 on a five-game losing streak and have scored just six times over that span. They fell 5-2 in Colorado in their final game before Christmas on Sunday, December 22nd – a game that was 3-2 until a couple of late empty netters by the Avalanche. Jared McCann and newcomer Kappo Kakko scored the Seattle goals.
McCann leads the team with 12 goals and 27 points on the season. Oliver Bjorkstrand has 11 goals and is the only other player on the roster with more than nine. Kakko’s goal is his lone point in three games since being acquired from the New York Rangers.
It’s been a struggle for the Kraken in Dan Bylsma’s first season behind the bench. The club is 4-9-1 in its past 14 outings and sits 25th in the overall league standings. The team has been shut out five times already in its first 36 games. That is tied for top spot in the league in that category.
After recording 57 points as a rookie two seasons ago, Matty Beniers has struggled offensively this season with four goals and 18 points. Shane Wright has shown flashes of the promise that made him the fourth overall pick in the 2022 Draft, picking up three goals and nine points in his last 11 games and leading the Kraken with four power play goals on the season. Today is the 50th game of his NHL career.
Seattle is tied for second in the league in goals from defencemen (21) led by Brandon Montour’s eight and Vince Dunn’s five. Only Columbus has scored more with 25.
Former Canuck Daniel Sprong has appeared in just nine games for the Kraken since being dealt to Seattle in November. His one goal there matches the one he scored to open the season for Vancouver.
Look for Philipp Grubauer to get the start in goal with Joey D’Accord battling through injury and left behind in Seattle. Andre Burakovsky, who has struggled with just two goals this season, is ill and did not make the quick trip north.
The Canucks and Kraken will meet again next Thursday, January 2nd, at Climate Pledge Arena. The teams will face-off again in Seattle on March 1st and back in Vancouver on April 2nd. Last season, the Kraken took two of the three match-ups between the Pacific Northwest rivals.
Tonight’s referees: Cody Beach & Tom Chmielewski
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson
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