NEXT GAME
Thursday
Dallas Stars vs. Vancouver Canucks
7 p.m., Rogers Arena, TV: Sportsnet Pacific. Radio: Sportsnet 650 AM
THE BIG MATCHUP
Benn vs. Benn
How do we not pick the brotherly battle? The two Saanich boys will face each other for the sixth time in their NHL careers. They were, of course, teammates for parts of six seasons with the Stars, before now-Canuck Jordie was shipped to the Montreal Canadiens at the 2017 trade deadline. One of the reasons Jordie signed to play in Vancouver was a chance to play in front of family and friends. Thursday, it will be interesting to see how the loyalties split with brother Jamie in town.
FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Blockade
If you’re hoping to get shots from the slot — the Canucks have been very good at this this season — Dallas isn’t a team that lets that happen very often. They’re one of the leagues best at forcing shooters outside. That makes life very easy for their goalies. They’re the third-stingiest team in the NHL in goals-against. (The Canucks, by the way, are fifth-stingiest.) Veteran defenceman Roman Polak is expected to return to the lineup after missing most of the season with a sternum injury.
2. Fizzle
That’s the sound the Stars’ offence has made so far this season. Despite the addition of veteran scorers like Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry, they’ve scored the third-fewest goals this season. This, of course, means they’re primed for a breakout against the Canucks. Vancouver, on the other hand, has now scored five goals eight times on the season. They may have had struggles scoring over the past week, but Tuesday against Nashville they reminded everyone how potent they can be when they’re on.
3. PP depth
It’s a regular item: the Canucks need their power play to be great. After Tuesday’s three-goal outburst, they’re now sixth overall with the man advantage. Getting two goals from the second unit Tuesday was a great sight, as the first unit has been carrying almost all of the load so far this year. If PP2 can be a credible threat, that will give PP1 further room to work with.
4. Centres of attention
If both the injured Jay Beagle and Brandon Sutter are out against the Stars, Bo Horvat is going to be leaned on heavily to carry the defensive load. He and Beagle have been facing the opposition’s best centres. With neither Beagle nor Sutter available late in Tuesday’s game, Horvat played 5:56 of the game’s final 6:58. That’s mighty impressive, but hardly sustainable. Tyler Graovac will likely draw in as the third-line centre if Beagle is forced to sit again.
5. Birthday hangover
Elias Pettersson’s two-goal performance on his 21st birthday Tuesday was surely followed by some serious Swedish celebrations. That said, he’s so committed to his craft that have no doubt he’ll be fit and raring to go against the Stars. The Lotto Line continues to score at an incredible clip, driven by the Canucks shooting 13.5 per cent while he’s on the ice at even strength.
LISTEN: The latest edition of the White Towel podcast is super-sized: Host Paul Chapman is joined by Canucks beat writers Patrick Johnston and Ben Kuzma plus columnist Ed Willes.
The quartet take a look at Quinn Hughes’ ongoing growth as an NHL defenceman, the fact the Canucks keep scoring in buckets and the pressures they’re going to face on a big road trip to close November.
Plus, there’s no avoiding Don Cherry; all three writers found themselves covering the departure of the outspoken broadcaster this week, each in a different way.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast from your mobile device:
Listen and subscribe to our podcast from your mobile device:
via Apple podcasts | via TuneIn | via Spotify | via Stitcher
Is the player not working? Click here.
CANUCKS LINEUP
Josh Leivo — Elias Pettersson — Brock Boeser
J.T. Miller — Bo Horvat — Sven Baertschi
Tanner Pearson — Adam Gaudette — Jake Virtanen
Tim Schaller — Jay Beagle (if not forced to sit) — Loui Eriksson
Defence pairings
Alex Edler — Tyler Myers
Quinn Hughes — Chris Tanev
Jordie Benn — Troy Stecher
Goalies : Thatcher Demko, Jacob Markstrom
STARS LINEUP
Jamie Benn — Justin Dowling — Tyler Seguin
Alex Radulov — Jason Dickinson — Corey Perry
Nicholas Caamano — Joe Pavelski — Denis Gurianov
Andrew Cogliano — Radek Faksa — Blake Comeau
Defence pairings
Jamie Oleksiak — Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell — Andrej Sekera
Joel Hanley — Taylor Fedun
Goalies : Ben Bishop, Anton Khudobin
SICK BAY
Canucks: Antoine Roussel (knee), Brandon Sutter (lower body), Jay Beagle (lower body)
Stars: Roman Polak (sternum), Roope Hintz (lower body), John Klingberg (lower body), Mattias Janmark (lower body)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power play
Canucks: 25% (6th)
Stars: 13% (28th)
Penalty kill
Canucks: 83.3% (T-9th)
Stars: 83.3% (T-9th)
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email [email protected] .
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019