The Vancouver Canucks will look to bounce back from their worst loss of the season as they take on the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.
The Canucks have a 5-7-2 record and sit second last in the Pacific Division while the Golden Knights have an 8-6-0 record and sit fifth in the Pacific. Vegas is on a two-game winning streak and they beat the Minnesota Wild in their last game 3-2.
It will be the first meeting between the two teams since their second-round series in the bubble.
Here is how the Canucks lined up at morning skate. As you can see, head coach Travis Green has split up the Lotto Line, split up Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson and put Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser with Jason Dickinson who has moved to the left wing. The defense pairings also have been drastically changed.
Madison Bowey was called up on Friday and likely be in the lineup due to Tucker Poolman’s two game suspension.
Thatcher Demko will get the start in Vegas.
Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer hasn’t forgotten about Demko’s performances in the bubble.
“I still wake up in cold sweats thinking about Thatcher Demko,” said DeBoer per Justin Emerson of the Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Weekly.
The Golden Knights have numerous injuries. Their captain Mark Stone did skate in the morning and is a game time decision. He suffered a lower body injury on October 14.
Max Pacioretty has been out with an undisclosed injury since October 16, Alec Martinez has been out at October 22 with an undisclosed injury, William Karlsson has been out since November 1 with a lower body injury. The newly-acquired Jack Eichel underwent successful spinal surgery on Friday.
“I have no doubt that tonight’s going to be a good game, and we’re going to play hard for each other,” said J.T. Miller per Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650. “Sometimes you don’t get the bounces, but we didn’t compete very hard last game. We didn’t have much push back, and that’s not how our team plays. ”
Players to watch
Golden Knights- Jonathan Marchessault: Marchessault has five goals in his last five games and leads Vegas with seven.
Canucks- Thatcher Demko: By far the best Canuck all season, Demko will look to deny the Golden Knights goals the same way he did in the bubble.
Puck drop is at 7:00 PM. You can watch the game on CBC and Sportsnet and listen to it on Sportsnet 650.