The Vancouver Canucks continue their short, two-game road trip and are back into action on Thursday night with an in-division matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Following a 3-2 overtime loss to Utah, the Canucks look to rebound after travelling over one state. Thursday’s game will be the first of four matchups this season between the Canucks and Golden Knights. The two Pacific Division squads split their season series last season with each club picking up a pair of wins.
Dakota Joshua scored his second goal of the season on Wednesday and his head coach Rick Tocchet called Joshua’s game a step in the right direction. The 28-year-old forward now has two goals in his last five games and is beginning to find his legs after missing the first month and a half of the season recovering from surgery following a cancer diagnosis.
The Canucks are travelling with Linus Karlsson and Phil Di Giuseppe on their roster for the first time this season. Both Karlsson and Di Giuseppe have battled injuries through the beginning of the year but have been impressive in their play with the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL.
The Golden Knights are leading the Pacific Division with a 20-8-3 record. They have won five of their last six games and are beginning a three-game homestand with Thursday’s game.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Jack Eichel leads Vegas with nine goals and 33 assists for 42 points in 31 games played. Eichel’s 33 assists tie him for second in the league. He’s picked up 12 of his assists on the power play this season and has assisted on nine of Ivan Barbashev team-leading 15 goals this season.
- Barbashev plays on the top line with Eichel and Mark Stone, but Barbashev missed practice on Wednesday and Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy called him day-to-day.
- Pavel Dorofeyev (12) and Brett Howden (11) join Barbashev as the only double-digit goal scorers for Vegas this season.
- Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore average 22 and a half minutes a night on defence and they will see plenty of minutes at five-on-five and both special teams' units.
- Noah Hanifin and Brayden McNabb round out Vegas’ top-four.
- Theodore leads Vegas’ defence in scoring with four goals and 22 assists for 26 points in 30 games.
- Adin Hill has started in net 20 times this season and holds a .899% save percentage, a 2.78 goals-against average and has a pair of shutouts.
The Story: Thatcher Demko getting back into the swing
Over his last two starts, Thatcher Demko has been displaying strong goaltending and looks like he is finding his groove in the crease. He has stopped 58 of the 62 shots he’s faced over his last two starts and has allowed four goals while the expected goals against number is 6.83.
Demko picked up his first win of the season on Monday against the Avalanche when he stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced.
Kevin Lankinen is expected to get the start on Thursday following Demko starting on Wednesday. Lankinen battled the flu over the past week but backed up on Wednesday in Utah.
Lankinen is tied for the league-lead with three shutouts this season.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Quinn Hughes: 0g-5a-5p
Kiefer Sherwood: 3g-0a-3p
Danton Heinen: 2g-1a-3p
Max Sasson: 1g-2a-3p
Brock Boeser: 1g-2a-3p
When and Where to Watch
Thursday night’s game is a 7:00 p.m. PT start, and you can watch it on Sportsnet or listen along to the radio call with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
