Gameday Preview: Vancouver Canucks vs. New York Rangers (November 2nd)

The Vancouver Canucks need a November win.

The team went through a difficult stretch of games in the last week of October, going 0-3 to kick off their seven-game homestand. The Canucks didn’t necessarily play poorly in those three outings, but their offence has yet to come up clutch when needed.

Vancouver has only notched four goals at Rogers Arena this season, with all three home losses being decided by one goal, and will be looking to turn the tide against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

Vancouver currently sits last in the Pacific Division.

The Canucks were given the day off on Sunday before hitting the ice again on Monday morning. Despite the current offensive dry spell, head coach Travis Green opted for the same forward line combinations from Saturday night’s contest against Edmonton, hoping that some consistency would help his players break through.

Matthew Highmore and Justin Dowling were once again absent from the team practice on Monday, with Justin Bailey and Nic Petan serving as their replacements on the fourth line. Dowling served as an extra on Tuesday, but is still day-to-day.

Green also didn’t make any changes on the wing, particularly for Nils Höglander and Conor Garland.

Höglander started Saturday’s contest with Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson, but only played 12:11 throughout three periods. Höglander did go to the dressing room for much of the opening frame, which greatly affected his TOI, but the Swedish winger also hasn’t been as energetic as he was during the team’s six-game road trip.

Garland once again practiced alongside Vasily Podkolzin and Jason Dickinson on the third line.

It’s been an interesting homestand for Garland, who appears to be in Green’s doghouse for the time being. Garland only played 15 minutes on Saturday night, despite being one of Vancouver’s most impactful players, but still had very minimal ice time in the team’s top-six.

Garland finished the night with six SOG and a team-leading 62.96% Corsi For percentage.

The Canucks also welcomed two familiar faces back to practice in Tyler Motte and Travis Hamonic.

Motte, who has been sidelined all year while recovering from spine surgery, skated with Bailey, Juho Lammikko and Alex Chiasson on the fourth line, while Hamonic joined the third-pairing with Kyle Burroughs and Luke Schenn.

Motte was sporting a non-contact jersey on Monday, indicating that the 26-year-old isn’t ready to return to the line-up just yet.

Hamonic, on the other hand, could make his season debut as early as Tuesday night. The former New York Islander was dealing with a personal matter that kept him away from the Canucks organization for the start of the season, but it looks like he is ready to resume his role on the backend.

Hamonic was called up to the Canucks after playing one AHL game over the weekend. Jack Rathbone was sent down to Abbotsford as a result.

The Canucks also gave the media a glimpse at their new powerplay possibilities on Tuesday, with Brock Boeser finally working his way back to the primary unit.

Since returning from injury, Boeser has mainly been playing on the second unit, but he was finally reunited with Horvat, J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes in the hopes that the man advantage can find a much-needed offensive spark.

Chiasson moved down to PP2 with Garland, Pearson, Höglander and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who appears good to go after his maintenance day on Monday.

Like their previous contests, the Canucks will need to find a way to slow down their opponent in order to come away with two points. New York currently sits second in the Metropolitan Division with 13 points, and are coming into Rogers Arena having won six of their past seven contests, including a 3-1 victory over Seattle on Halloween.

Puck drop is set for 7:00pm PST.

What are your thoughts heading into Tuesday night’s contest? Can the Canucks finally secure a victory? Let us know in the comments!