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.
Morning skate #Canucks lines
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) April 14, 2022
Podkolzin-Miller-Chiasson
Garland-Horvat-Pettersson
Dickinson-Lammikko-Lockwood
Dries-Richardson-Burroughs
OEL-Myers
Hughes-Schenn
Hunt-Dermott
Extra: Petan@Sportsnet650 pic.twitter.com/ERrAFzvDFY
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.
Spotted Boeser in RA hallway visiting former teammates Eriksson and Beagle with ice pack on his right elbow. Asked about it, Boudreau said he hadn't seen Boeser today, but admitted that would be "encouraging". No timeline for return. Maybe Monday? Stars are here. #Canucks
— Ben Kuzma 🇺🇦 (@benkuzma) April 14, 2022
“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.
The #Canucks power play is lethal.
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) April 14, 2022
And while they're converting at an outrageous clip at the moment, they're also beginning to generate quality looks at an absurd rate the past few games.
Here's their xG/60 based on a 5-game rolling average per @MoneyPuckdotcom: pic.twitter.com/fS42yzRfJr
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.