The Vancouver Canucks head into Winnipeg still searching for traction, and tonight’s matchup at Canada Life Centre gives them a chance to reset after another narrow loss. Vancouver opens a two-game Canadian road trip against the Jets at 5 pm PT, with both teams trying to claw toward something steadier: the Canucks are looking for their second win in 15 games, while Winnipeg is chasing its second win in 11.
Vancouver’s morning skate in Winnipeg was a full one, but the lineup picture remained murky. Leevi Meriläinen is expected back in goal after sitting out Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
Before that, he had started four straight games and seven of nine. Tom Willander, who was a surprise scratch against Anaheim after tweaking a lower-body injury at the morning skate, traveled with the team and remains an option to return tonight.
The Canucks are coming off a third straight defeat, though Tuesday’s game had some offense to it. Jake DeBrusk ended a nine-game scoring drought with two goals, while Linus Karlsson and Liam Öhgren also found the net. Öhgren, who was a healthy scratch on October 22nd, has now scored in three of his last four games.
Brock Boeser is also giving Vancouver something to work with. He has points in back-to-back games and has collected three goals and three assists over his last five outings.
One player the Canucks need more from is Marco Rossi. The Austrian centre picked up an assist on Öhgren’s first-period power play goal two nights ago, but he’s now gone 13 games without scoring and has only two assists in that stretch.
Special teams have been one of the few bright spots. Vancouver’s power play clicked twice against Anaheim and has scored in six of its last eight games, going at a 25.9% clip over that span. Elias Pettersson leads the club with four power play goals.
The penalty kill, though, has been a different story. The Canucks gave up three power play goals to the Ducks, dropping their season PK rate to 63.2%.
On the road, it has been even shakier at 57.7%, with 11 goals allowed in 26 shorthanded situations. Vancouver has allowed at least one power play goal in seven of its nine road games this season.
Winnipeg, meanwhile, comes in riding the kind of emotional win that can flip a room in a hurry. The Jets erased a 4-0 deficit with less than three minutes left and stunned the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in overtime on Tuesday. Dylan Samberg scored the winner at 3:30 of OT.
Kyle Connor was at the center of it again, scoring twice and moving to second in the NHL with 13 goals. Six of those goals have come on the power play, including the tying goal with 33 seconds left against Montreal. He leads the Jets with 17 points, while Mark Scheifele has 14.
Dawson Mercer has two assists in six games since arriving as part of the return in the Connor Hellebuyck trade with New Jersey.
Viggo Bjorck is still waiting for his first point. The eighth overall pick in June’s draft has appeared in all 16 Jets games, has 13 shots, and is averaging 13:48 of ice time. He is currently the youngest player on an NHL roster and the only 2008-born player in the league.
Tuesday’s comeback win ended a nine-game winless stretch for Winnipeg, a run that went 0-7-2 after the Jets opened the season 4-1-1.
Stuart Skinner is slated to make his third straight start in goal tonight.
The Jets swept the three-game season series last year, including a pair of 3-2 overtime wins by Cole Perfetti and Josh Morrissey. The Canucks have also had a rough time in Manitoba, going 4-16-1 in their last 21 visits dating back to 2015.
Brandon Schraeder and Wes McCauley are the referees for tonight’s game.
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The bigger issue for Vancouver is that there is not much relief coming right now. Thatcher Demko is still working his way back from hip surgery, leaving the Canucks to keep leaning on Lankinen even as the results continue to lag behind the standard they need. For a team already fighting through structural issues, the goaltending picture has only made the margin for error even thinner. [Read more 🡒]
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For Davis, the transition has not been seamless, but it has given him a clear target. He has been working to play hard without losing the skill that made him an intriguing prospect in the first place, and the early focus is on making his game harder to handle shift after shift. The next step is proving he can turn that foundation into a bigger role, and the Canucks will be watching closely to see how fast he can make that jump. [Read more 🡒]