Making a little bit of NHL history, the Vancouver Canucks (16-9-5) travel south to the United States to play the League's newest franchise, the Utah Hockey Club (14-11-5), for the first time at 7 p.m. at Delta Center on Wednesday night. This will be the first of three meetings between these two powerhouses this season, with the Canucks returning to Utah again on Feb. 23.
After a gutsy 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night, thanks in large part to the individual brilliance of Kiefer Sherwood, the Canucks have once again shown the propensity to snap the lulls that seep into their game. A fast and aggressive Utah team is going to keep them on their heels, though, and the Canucks cannot afford to rest on their laurels once again with the holiday break within sight.
Canucks Game Lineup
Jake DeBrusk - Elias Pettersson - Max Sasson
Conor Garland - J.T. Miller - Brock Boeser
Danton Heinen - Pius Suter - Kiefer Sherwood
Dakota Joshua - Teddy Blueger - Nils Hoglander
Quinn Hughes - Tyler Myers
Carson Soucy - Noah Juulsen
Erik Brannstrom - Vincent Desharnais
Thatcher Demko is confirmed to be the Canucks starting goalie once again, making a second consecutive start against Utah on Wednesday night. The Canucks have not indicated any lineup changes going into the game.
Utah Game Lineup
Clayton Keller - Barrett Hayton - Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain - Logan Cooley - Dylan Guenther
Matias Maccelli - Nick Bjugstad - Lawson Crouse
Michael Carcone - Kevin Stenlund - Alex Kerfoot
Mikhail Sergachev - Olli Maatta
Ian Cole - Michael Kesselring
Juuso Valimaki - Vladislav Kolyachonok
In the absence of the injured Connor Ingram, Karel Vejmelka will start in goal for Utah against the Canucks on Wednesday night. Vejmelka is 6-7-2 this season with a very solid 2.40 GAA and .915 save percentage.
How to watch the Canucks game
Wednesday night's Canucks game will be streamed on Sportsnet Pacific, Utah16, and TVAS. For fans unable to watch the Canucks game, Sportsnet 650 will be the radio broadcast available for your listening.