The Vancouver Canucks head into Saturday’s matinee with one simple task in front of them: finish the road trip with something to show for it.
They bring a 2-6-1 record into their meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and after five games away from home they are still searching for their first win of the trip at 0-4-1. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, comes in at 5-2-0. Last season, the two clubs split the season series, with each side grabbing one victory.
For Vancouver, the formula is pretty clear. The Canucks need to put together a full 60 minutes, not just stretches of good hockey.
They have spent too much of this season chasing games after letting a period slip away, and that is the kind of habit that gets punished fast. If they get themselves in front late, they also can’t ease off and invite pressure back into the game.
There is at least one area trending the right way: the penalty kill. Vancouver has killed off six of its last seven shorthanded chances and even chipped in a shorthanded goal. That matters against a Tampa Bay team that sits last in the league on the power play, even if the Lightning still have dangerous weapons who have proven they can score with the extra man.
Marco Rossi is one player Vancouver will need to get going. The 25-year-old has gone quiet offensively on this road trip and did not record a point in Thursday’s overtime loss. He logged just 13:35 in that game, but he remains important at even strength and on the power play, so the Canucks need more from him if they want to pull out a win in Tampa.
On the other side, John Carlson has given the Lightning exactly the kind of impact they hoped for when they signed him in free agency this off-season. The 36-year-old has four points in seven games and is providing offense from the blue line while also moving the puck with the kind of clean passing that can jump-start the rush the other way.
Elias Pettersson leads Vancouver with 9 points, followed by Paul Cotter with 6, Brock Boeser with 6, Linus Karlsson with 6, and Filip Hronek with 6. In goal, Kevin Lankinen is 1-5-0 and Leevi Meriläinen is 1-2-0.
For Tampa Bay, Brandon Hagel leads the way with 10 points, while Nikita Kucherov has 8, Jake Guentzel has 7, and both John Carlson and Ilya Mikheyev have 4. Andrei Vasilevskiy is 4-2-0, while Dennis Hildeby is 1-0-0.
Puck drop is set for 1:00 pm PT at Benchmark International Arena. The game will be carried on Sportsnet and KiSS West Coast.
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Aatu Rty was the last remaining piece in the picture, and his departure closed the loop on a transaction that had lingered in the background for more than a year. For the Canucks, it is a reminder of how quickly one franchise-altering trade can keep echoing through the roster, even after the original headline has long since faded. [Read more 🡒]