After another long layoff, the Vancouver Canucks (16-15-3) will return to regular season action on Tuesday night for the first time since their 5-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on January 1st. The Canucks first game on their upcoming five-game road trip takes place in FLA Live Arena, home of the Florida Panthers.
Despite the ten day layoff between games for Vancouver, they remain one of the hottest team across the NHL. After the firing of Travis Green and the subsequent hiring of Bruce Boudreau, the Canucks went on a seven game winning streak, winning eight of nine games Boudreau’s coached, taking points in all nine occasions.
Vancouver has gone from a team that looked dead in the water and destined for a top draft pick, to a team that is alive in the playoff hunt with over half the season remaining.
After practicing in Florida with the team on Monday, the Canucks are expected to have Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, and Jason Dickinson back in the lineup after a spell in the league’s COVID protocols.
The opponents on Tuesday night are the surging Florida Panthers (23-7-5). After a disappointing first round exit in last year’s postseason, Florida has shot out to the league’s 2nd best points per game total through 35 games, and as a result sit atop the Atlantic Division.
After the resignation of Joel Quenneville in late October, the Panthers have continued on their great start to the season being led by interim coach Andrew Brunette. Florida boasts some top talents including the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, and Aaron Ekblad, all playing in front of Sergei Bobrovsky, one of the better goalies across the league this season.
Scoring an average of 3.9 goals per game, Florida tests opposing goalies with 37 shots per night, combining to make the Panthers the second best offensive team in the NHL. They can be tested defensively however, ranking in the bottom-half of teams in terms of goals allowed, shots allowed, penalty kill efficiency, and penalty minutes per game.
The odds for Tuesday’s game in Florida are courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook, the official betting partner of FanSided.