For the second time this season, the Vancouver Canucks will host a visiting Metropolitan Division team at home, squaring off with the Pittsburgh Penguins at Rogers Arena at 7 p.m. on Saturday night. This will be the first of two meetings between these two teams this season, with the next coming on the road on Nov. 27.
The Canucks have played just about average hockey against the Penguins in recent memory, posting a 4-5-1 record in their last 10 games against Saturday night's opponents. Vancouver has been equally average against the Penguins in the last few matchups, with a record of 2-2-1 in the previous five meetings.
Projected Canucks Game Lineup
Jake DeBrusk - J.T. Miller - Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander - Elias Pettersson - Conor Garland
Danton Heinen - Pius Suter - Kiefer Sherwood
Arshdeep Bains - Teddy Blueger - Daniel Sprong
Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy - Tyler Myers
Erik Brannstrom - Vincent Desharnais
Kevin Lankinen has been confirmed as the Canucks' starter vs. the Penguins and will make his fourth consecutive start for Vancouver; he's 3-0-1 in his four appearances this season.
Projected Penguins Game Lineup
Drew O'Connor - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Anthony Beauvillier - Lars Eller - Jesse Puljujarvi
Kevin Hayes - Noel Acciari - Valtteri Puustinen
Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves - Jack St. Ivany
Alex Nedeljkovic will go toe-to-toe with Lankinen in the crease on Saturday. The Penguins have played some dreadful hockey as of late and are currently wallowing away towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference, so a disciplined approach will help Rick Tocchet and his Canucks take advantage of a favorable matchup on Saturday night.
How to watch the Canucks game
Saturday night's Canucks game will be streamed on CBC, Sportsnet, CITY, and SportsNet Pittsburgh. For Canucks fans unable to watch the game, Sportsnet 650 will be the radio broadcast available for your listening