Tonight, the Vancouver Canucks (5-7-2) are in Las Vegas taking on the Golden knights (8-6-0) at T-Mobile arena at 7PM (PST) for this thrilling Saturday night match-up.
Where to watch: Sportsnet Pacific
Where to listen: Sportsnet 650 radio
The Canucks are coming off a very forgettable game in Denver on Thursday night where Colorado steamrolled them 7-1 and showed the Canucks why they're not quite on the elite level yet. That loss was one of the most embarrassing Canuck's losses in the Jim Benning era of this team.
Meanwhile, Vegas is coming off a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night and has now won 4 of their last 5 games.
Mark Stone looks to make his return to the Golden knights line-up tonight but remains a game-time decision up until now.
Canucks center Tyler Motte is hopeful to return to the Canucks lineup before wrapping up this road trip in Anaheim tomorrow night.
Here you can listen to Travis Green speak to the media this afternoon ahead of tonight's game.
"It's gonna be a good atmosphere, a playoff like atmosphere in here, its a good hockey team we're playing and when you come into Vegas you gotta be ready to play" - Green said about going into this game.
"as a player, if you don't play well you don't sleep well at night. And if your team doesn't win, it makes it even worse. Looking for a response out of our group tonight".
storylines for the Canucks
The Canucks Penalty Kill continues to struggle
After losing key penalty killers Tyler Motte and Brandon Sutter to injury. Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, Nate Schmidt, and Alex Edler to free agency, the Canucks have struggled heavily on the penalty kill. 14 games in, they have allowed at least one power play goal against in 11 of the 14 games. They have also allowed two power play goals in five of the last six games. Their penalty kill currently ranks dead last in the NHL at a poor 62.8 percent.
The Canucks cant score the first goal
Too often the Vancouver Canucks find themself playing catch up early on in the game. They have allowed the first goal in every game since October 21 when they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 9 games ago. Only 2 times in 14 games have the Canucks scored the opening goal.
Poolman suspension leaves a massive gap in the Canucks defense
Poolman was suspended for 2 games for high-sticking Colorado Avalanche forward Kiefer Sherwood last game. The NHLPA announced the suspension on Thursday, Nov. 11 directly following the incident that occurred at 10:19 in the third period. This leaves the Canucks defense depleted heading into tonight's game following Travis Hamonic (Vaccination rules) and Luke Schenn (Lower-Body) being out of the line-up.
storylines for the Golden Knights
A whole lotta injuries
The Golden Knights are currently riddled with injuries as they are without their top-six forwards Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone and William Karlsson. They are also missing Nolan Patrick, William Carrier, Zach Whitecloud and their newest player Jack Eichel who is expected to be out until February at the earliest.
Vegas struggles on the Power Play
Vegas is currently 28th in the league on the Power Play at 10.7%, capitalizing on only 3/28 opportunities. This could largely be due to the fact that they're missing plenty of their power play regulars from their line up.
Projected Lineups
Vancouver Canucks
Pearson – Miller – Hoglander Podkolzin – Horvat – Garland Dickinson – Pettersson – Boeser Bailey – Lammikko – Chiasson
Hughes – Myers Ekman-Larsson – Burroughs Hunt – Bowey
Thatcher Demko has not played a full game against the Golden Knights in the regular season, but has a 2-1 record in the playoffs along with a 0.64 goals-against average and .985 save percentage to go along with one shutout.
Vegas Golden Knights
Marchessault – Roy – Smith Dadonov – Stephenson – Kolesar Janmark – Leschyshyn – Amadio Rondbjerg – Howden – Cotter
*Stone will be a game-time decision, according to DeBoer this morning. Hague – Pietrangelo Martinez – Theodore McNabb – Coghlan Robin Lehner: 2-3-0 against the Canucks with a 2.40 GAA and .922 SV% with 2 shut-outs.
