Another day, another uber-important game for the Vancouver Canucks.

Riding a six-game win streak and fresh off a big victory over the Dallas Stars less than 24 hours ago, the Canucks will look to backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak to keep it going for them.

The Canucks didn’t hold a morning skate this morning, but head coach Bruce Boudreau confirmed his starting netminder this morning at media availability.

The Canucks have relied heavily on Thatcher Demko this season, and Halak has had a bit of an up and down year to this point.

After a couple of hiccups in February, Halak has provided the Canucks with good goaltending in his last three starts.

Alex Chiasson will be a game-time decision, as he was scratched after taking warmups with what the club said was a non-COVID-related illness.

Elias Pettersson continued his excellent stretch of play in Monday’s critical 6–2 win over the Dallas Stars, picking up a pair of goals and adding an assist. The 23-year-old Swede now has 63 points in 74 games and is just three points back of tying his career high.

Pettersson has ramped up his game when it matters for the Canucks this season. In a way, it’s been his first opportunity to participate in a meaningful stretch drive with the team: while Vancouver qualified for the playoffs in 2019–20, the final few weeks of the season were cancelled due to the onset of COVID-19.

“It’s exciting games,” Pettersson told reporters on Tuesday morning. “These are the games I like to play. Any game is almost do-or-die, basically, so just take it every game and it’s fun.”

Pettersson is now just one goal shy of his first 30-goal season in the National Hockey League. He’s up to 29 goals in 74 contests after scoring just four goals in his first 28 games of the season.

“They all count,” Pettersson said with a laugh while describing the “dirty goal” he scored in the first period against Dallas. “Dries made a great play, I was able to just tap it in. We talked about, always get the puck to the net and always have a guy on net, and, shows it right there.”