Vancouver Canucks Week #15 Outlook, Predictions: Last Big Trip

@ Carolina Hurricanes (18-18-7) Friday, January 15th

Leading scorer: Justin Faulk (14 goals, 31 points)

Keys to the game

1. Eddie Lack
2. Possession is life
3. Must-win on a back-to-back

Just 20 hours after playing the Capitals, Vancouver will face Eddie Lack’s Carolina Hurricanes, again. Hopefully Lack gets a second chance to play the Canucks. Hopefully Vancouver will beat him again for two full points.

More from Canucks News

• Canucks are in “wash, rinse, repeat” mode after Monday’s 5-1 loss
• Canucks send Jack Rathbone and Vasily Podkolzin down to Abbotsford
• Canucks acquire Ethan Bear, Lane Pederson from Carolina
• Brock Boeser, Curtis Lazar placed on injury reserve
• Canucks officially unveil Reverse Retro jersey in latest aesthetic change

The Canucks and the Hurricanes are remarkably similar, at least on the stats. Both are at the .500 win rate, and the goals for, goals against, power-play success, and penalty-kill success of the two clubs are right next to each other. But not the faceoffs. The Canucks sit last and the Hurricanes sit atop the league.

That is why possession is even more important in this match-up. The Canucks are going to be a tired bunch after the game against the top team in the league, and if they don’t dictate the puck possession, they are going to run out of gas by the third period. Chasing pucks for 40 minutes after playing the top team in the league the night before? Not a good idea.

I am going to guess that the Canucks are on the losing side of things after two games against two top-East foes, on their home ice. If the Canucks lose against a very winnable foe in Carolina, the team will not be very happy to say the least. In terms of momentum, Carolina is a big game.

Of course, I can see Henrik Sedin coming out and — after a loss to the Capitals — saying that it feels great to get a second kick at things just 20 hours after the last one went astray. It is going to be a tough one, boys.

Our Predictions

I think the two games in two nights will not do much to faze the young lineup the Canucks are planning to use. Figures that Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen won’t see all of these games and they will be energized to go, should they have lost to the Capitals. If they beat the Capitals or at least earn a single point, that will be a good confidence booster, as well. I will take the Canucks on this one.

Here’s Janik Beichler’s:

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