Gameday preview: Canucks vs Coyotes (April 14)

The Vancouver Canucks will look to win five in a row as the Arizona Coyotes come to town.

These two teams met a week ago when the Canucks beat the Coyotes 5-1 in Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland’s return to Glendale. This is the third and final meeting between these two teams this season.

The Coyotes have lost four in a row and they have 49 points which makes them the worst team in the NHL. Their last game was a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils.

For the Canucks, they are coming off a 5-4 overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights. They currently have 82 points are still in the playoff mix. Vancouver is six points behind the Dallas Stars for the final wild card spot. They also are six points behind the Los Angeles Kings for third in the Pacific Division. The Kings were crushed 9-3 by the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. The Canucks have a game in hand on the Stars and two games in hand on the Kings.

Here is how the Canucks lined up at morning skate.

Brock Boeser remains out with an injury but he was seen wearing an ice pack on his right elbow. It is still unknown when he will return.

“All we can do is focus on ourselves,” said Tyler Myers to the media on Thursday morning. “There’s a few teams in the fight for 1-2 spots. We just have to take it one game at a time and focus on our group.”

Elias Pettersson spoke about playing on the penalty kill.

“It’s different thinking when you’re on the PK, but it’s fun,” said Pettersson.

The Canucks also hope to continue to score on the power play which has been hot as of late. It is now ninth in the league.

Players to watch

Arizona Coyotes-Nick Schmaltz: Schmaltz is second on the Coyotes in goals with 23 and second points with 52.

Vancouver Canucks-Elias Pettersson: In his last 23 games, Pettersson has 32 points. The slump seems like a distant memory now.

Puck drop is at 7:00 PM. You can watch the game on Sportsnet Pacific or listen to it on Sportsnet 650.