After a few days off, the Vancouver Canucks (11-7-3) return to the ice, traveling north to face the struggling Buffalo Sabres (11-10-1) at Keybank Center at 12 p.m. on Friday afternoon. This will be the first of two meetings between these teams this season, with the Canucks hosting the next in a few weeks on Jan. 21.
The Canucks have been demonstrably better than the Sabres over the last few seasons, posting a 6-2-2 record against Buffalo in their last 10 meetings and a 3-1-1 record in their last five meetings. Although the Canucks have also struggled lately, the Sabres have had to deal with inconsistent goaltending and poor defending of their own. This is a good opportunity for Vancouver to get some slumping forwards, like Dakota Joshua and Nils Hoglander, going in the right direction.
Canucks Game Lineup
Jake DeBrusk - Elias Pettersson - Kiefer Sherwood
Dakota Joshua - Pius Suter - Conor Garland
Danton Heinen - Teddy Blueger - Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander - Aatu Raty - Arshdeep Bains
Quinn Hughes - Tyler Myers
Carson Soucy - Noah Juulsen
Erik Brannstrom - Vincent Desharnais
Kevin Lankinen is expected to be the Canucks starting goalie for Friday afternoon's game against the Sabres. Vincent Desharnais returns to the lineup as a depth option in the wake of the Filip Hronek injury.
Sabres Game Lineup
J.J. Peterka - Tage Thompson - Alex Tuch
Zach Benson - Dylan Cozens - Peyton Krebs
Jason Zucker - Jiri Kulich - Jack Quinn
Beck Malenstyn - Ryan McLeod - Sam Lafferty
Rasmus Dahlin - Bowen Byram
Owen Power - Henri Jokiharju
Jacob Bryson - Connor Clifton
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to start for the Sabres in Friday afternoon's Canucks game. Tage Thompson will play in his second game since returning from a Nov. 11 injury against Montreal.
How to watch the Canucks game
Friday afternoon's Canucks game will be streamed on Sportsnet and MSG WNY. For fans unable to watch the Canucks game, Sportsnet 650 will be the radio broadcast available for your listening.