Gameday preview: Canucks vs Rangers (February 27)
The Vancouver Canucks begin a four-game eastern road trip and the first stop is Midtown Manhattan to take on the New York Rangers.
The Canucks are coming off their biggest win of the season. They beat the Calgary Flames 7-1 at home ending the Flames 10 game winning streak. Vancouver has a 25-22-6 record and are sixth in the Pacific Divison. They have 56 points and are five points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the final wild card spot.
The Rangers have been one of the top teams in the NHL this season and have a 33-14-5 record which is third in the Metropolitan Division. New York will be playing the second game of a back-to-back as they lost 1-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
The Canucks held an optional skate on Sunday but they had a full practice at Chelsea Piers on Saturday. This will likely be the lineup at Madison Square Garden.
#Canucks D pairs appear to be Hughes-Schenn, OEL-Myers and Hunt-Hamonic https://t.co/OxFNDvxCLF
— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) February 26, 2022
J.T. Miller spoke about facing his former team.
“Had a lot of great times here,” said Miller on Monday morning. “Drafted here, started my career and journey in the NHL here.”
Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau talked about how the Canucks need to bring their A game against a good Rangers team.
“You have to play 60 minutes of your best hockey to beat this team,” said Boudreau.
No word has been said on the starting goaltender but it is likely that Thatcher Demko will once again be between the pipes.
For the Rangers, it looks like they will go with Alexander Georgiev in goal as Igor Shesterkin played Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Kyle Burroughs has been put on the injured reserve and Tucker Poolman was put on the LTIR. Burroughs is out with broken ribs for possibly two months while Poolman has been dealing headaches and migraines not related to COVID-19.
However, Boudreau revealed that Poolman did skate on Friday but still isn’t 100%.
Bruce Boudreau says that Tucker Poolman skated on his own yesterday, though there’s still no exact timeline for his injury #Canucks
— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) February 26, 2022
The Canucks have also called up Phil Di Giuseppe from Abbotsford.
Transaction: #Canucks recall Phillip Di Giuseppe from Abbotsford.
— Canucks PR (@CanucksPR) February 26, 2022
Players to Watch
Vancouver Canucks-JT Miller: Miller had four points against the Calgary Flames and his 57 points is 12th in NHL scoring. He has 11 points in last last five games.
New York Rangers- Artemi Panarin: The “Bread Man” is 16th in NHL scoring with 55 points. In his last 14 games, he has scored four goals and got 15 assists for 19 points.
Next. Canucks: Betting odds and prediction vs. Rangers (February 27). dark
Puck drop is at 4:30 PM PST. You can watch the game on Sportsnet Pacific or listen to it on Sportsnet 650.