The Vancouver Canucks (8-3-3) will face old friend Bo Horvat and the New York Islanders (6-6-4) for the first time this season as they seek to begin another win streak; the previous three-game win streak was abbreviated by a dreadful 7-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. Thursday night's Canucks game will start just after 7 p.m. at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks are a very strong 4-1-0 in their last five games against the Islanders, and 6-4-0 in their last 10 games against the Islanders. Horvat has two goals, one assist, and three points in three career games against his old squad. Aatu Raty will be facing the Islanders as a Canucks player for the first time on Thursday night.
Canucks Game Lineup
Pius Suter - J.T. Miller - Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Jake DeBrusk - Elias Pettersson - Conor Garland
Danton Heinen - Teddy Blueger - Kiefer Sherwood
Dakota Joshua - Aatu Raty - Nils Hoglander
Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy - Tyler Myers
Erik Brannstrom - Vincent Desharnais
Kevin Lankinen is likely to be the Canucks starting goalie vs. the Islanders and is set to start a whopping 12th game of the season already. Lankinen made 28 saves on 29 shots against Calgary on Tuesday night in a strong rebound effort from a disastrous performance against Edmonton on Saturday. Lankinen now has an 8-1-2 record with a 2.46 GAA, a .911 save percentage, and one shutout.
Islanders Game Lineup
Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - J.G. Pageau
Maxim Tsyplakov - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Pierre Engvall - Casey Cizikas - Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Oliver Wahlstrom
Scott Mayfield - Ryan Pulock
Isaiah George - Noah Dobson
Dennis Cholowski - Grant Hutton
Semyon Varlamov is the confirmed Islanders starting goalie for Thursday night's Canucks game. Varlamov is 2-3-1 this season with a 3.01 GAA and a .887 save percentage.
How to watch the Canucks game
Thursday night's Canucks game will be streamed on Sportsnet Pacific, MSG Sports Network, and MSG Sports Network 2. For fans unable to watch the Canucks game, Sportsnet 650 will be the radio broadcast available for your listening.