The Vancouver Canucks (18-12-9) have returned to the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference, though this may not last long as the surprisingly strong Washington Capitals (26-10-4) host the Canucks at Capital One Arena at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. The Capitals have won only five of their last 10 games, though, so there is some hope for Vancouver in this one.
The Canucks are 1-3-1 in their last five games against the Capitals and 3-5-2 in their last 10. This is the first of two meetings between the Canucks and the Capitals this season, with the Canucks playing host in just over two weeks on Jan. 17.
Canucks Game Lineup
Jonathan Lekkerimaki - J.T. Miller - Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk - Pius Suter - Conor Garland
Phil Di Giuseppe - Teddy Blueger - Kiefer Sherwood
Danton Heinen - Max Sasson - Nils Hoglander
Quinn Hughes - Tyler Myers
Carson Soucy - Noah Juulsen
Derek Forbort - Vincent Desharnais
Kevin Lankinen is confirmed to be the Canucks starting goalie against the Capitals on Wednesday night. According to head coach Rick Tocchet, Thatcher Demko is nearing a return but not quite ready just yet. Arturs Silovs will continue to serve as the Canucks' backup goalie in the interim. Additionally, center Elias Pettersson is a game-time decision against the Capitals.
Capitals Game Lineup
Alex Ovechkin - Dylan Strome - Taylor Raddysh
Aliaksei Protas - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Tom Wilson
Ivan Miroshnichenko - Lars Eller - Connor McMichael
Andrew Mangiapane - Nic Dowd - Brandon Duhaime
Jakob Chychrun - Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin - John Carlson
Martin Fehervary - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson is confirmed to be the Capitals starting goalie for Wednesday night's game against the Canucks. Thompson is 16-2-2 this season with a 2.39 GAA and .916 save percentage.
How to watch the Canucks game
Wednesday night's Canucks game will be streamed on Sportsnet and Monumental Sports Network 2. For fans unable to watch the Canucks game, Sportsnet 650 will be the radio broadcast available for your listening.