Gameday preview: Canucks vs Bruins (December 8)

The Vancouver Canucks will play the third game of a six-game homestand as the Boston Bruins come to town.

The Canucks and Bruins last met on November 28 in Boston. Conor Garland and Tanner Pearson scored for the Canucks but the Bruins scored twice in the third period and won the game 3-2. In that game Brad Marchand slew-footed Oliver Ekman-Larsson and was suspended three games. Marchand will be back in the lineup since being suspended Wednesday night against the Canucks.

The Bruins have a 12-8-1 record and sit fifth in the Atlantic Division. They had their three-game win streak snapped in their last game. It was a 3-2 overtime loss at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Steven Stamkos scored the winner.

The Canucks did not hold a game-day skate but they did practice on Tuesday. Here is how they line up.

The power play units remained the same from Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. Ekman-Larsson wasn’t at practice on Wednesday because it was a maintenance day for him.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau said that both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes asked him if they could be on the penalty kill.

"“They both asked me about penalty killing and I said ‘yeah, we’re gonna try it,’” said Boudreau per David Quadrelli of Canucks Army. “We’re gonna try Boes at one point too. I mean, let’s face it, whatever it was, wasn’t working before, so trying new guys isn’t going to hurt you. The problem with Hughesy last night, he still played 26 minutes  but I told him we are going to use him on the penalty kill. He played six seconds, which is nothing but the one penalty he was going to kill, Hamonic was the one that got the penalty, so we wanted to keep the groups together and that’s the only reason he didn’t get a chance, but he’ll get a chance tomorrow.”"

The Bruins are dealing with some injuries. Tomas Nosek is dealing with illness and Jakob Zobril is dealing with a lower body injury. They are both not traveling with the team Head coach Bruce Cassidy is not on the trip as he remains on the NHL’s COVID-19 list. Anton Blidh is dealing with an upper body injury and is close to returning but won’t play against the Canucks.

Here is how the Bruins are expected to line up.

Boudreau said Thatcher Demko will get the start. Wednesday is also his 26th birthday.

Players to watch

Boston Bruins- David Pastrnak: Pastrnak is a an elite goal scorer. He is second on the Bruins in goals with eight on the season.

Vancouver Canucks- J.T. Miller– Miller’s 25 points leads the Canucks. He is on pace for 78 points.

Puck drop is at 6:00 PM. You can watch the game on Sportsnet Pacific or listen to it on Sportsnet 650.