Vancouver Canucks at Florida Panthers: TV, Radio, News, Predictions

After the Vancouver Canucks stunned the Tampa Bay Lighting, they will try to sweep the state of Florida with a win tonight against the Panthers.

It’s been 11 months, less a day, since the Vancouver Canucks faced the Florida Panthers.

That night in Vancouver ended with a bang. Daniel Sedin scored the overtime winner against former teammate Roberto Luongo. Then he gave a good, long stare-down to the Cats’ bench.

After that came the bench-clearing brawl, the “low-life” comments, and the accusations of peanut butter licking:

Besides Sedin, two of the main Canucks antagonists in that fiasco were Brandon Prust and Derek Dorsett. Prust is no longer a Canuck, and Dorsett is out for the season after surgery, so tonight will probably be light on fisticuffs.

Still, it won’t be short on storylines: Erik Gudbranson will face his former team for the first time since being traded in the summer:

Additionally, Roberto Luongo and Jacob Markstrom will face off once again. They were the main pieces in the trade that sent Bobby Lu back to the Sunshine State.

Here are your last-minute need-to-knows:

Vancouver Canucks at Florida Panthers – 4:00 PM PT

BB&T Center — Sunrise, Florida
TV: SN, FS-F
Radio: TSN1040
Online Streaming: NHL.TV

Canucks Record: 12-13-2 (6th in Pacific Division, 26th in NHL)
Panthers Record:  12-12-4 (6th in Atlantic Division, 24th in NHL)

Gameday Notes:

Lineup News:

Ryan Miller left Thursday’s game against the Lightning with muscle tightness. This happened early in the season and Miller ended up missing a handful of games. It looks like that may be the case again:

In the meantime, guess who gets to join the big club for a while?

Thatcher Demko, who has been stellar in his last few games for the Utica Comets, gets to spend at least a weekend with the Canucks.

It’s unclear whether he will see any game action; it depends partly on how long Miller is out. Vancouver does play on back-to-back nights, and tomorrow’s game in Washington will be an early start (4 PM local time).

Related Story: Demko Starting to Excel with Utica Comets

Jacob Markstrom has not played since Tuesday, so he should be well-rested. But 22 hours between starts is a quick turnaround time even for a rested goalie. We’ll watch with interest which netminder the Canucks start tomorrow night.

Miller may be out, but there is some good injury news. Jannik Hansen has rejoined the Canucks. He will be a scratch tonight, but should play tomorrow against the Washington Capitals.

For tonight, Vancouver will ice the same group that won their last game against Tampa Bay.

Predictions

Jeff Godley:

Gerald Morton:

Janik Beichler:

Alex Hoegler: