An all too familiar feeling, as the Vancouver Canucks (36-29-13) have officially been eliminated from the playoffs once again. With no hope left for their season and four games remaining, they will have to soldier on away from home and begin closing out the season with a matchup against the mighty Colorado Avalanche (48-27-4) at Ball Arena at 6 p.m. on Thursday night.
Centers Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytil and defenceman Tyler Myers will miss Thursday night's game against the Avalanche due to injury. On the Avalanche side, Nathan MacKinnon will miss Thursday night's game with a minor injury.
Canucks Game Lineup
Nils Hoglander - Pius Suter - Conor Garland
Jake DeBrusk - Max Sasson - Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua - Aatu Raty - Kiefer Sherwood
Drew O'Connor - Teddy Blueger - Linus Karlsson
Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson - Victor Mancini
Derek Forbort - Elias Pettersson
Kevin Lankinen is confirmed to be the Canucks' starting goalie against the Avalanche on Thursday night, making what will be one of his final starts in his debut season in Vancouver.
Lankinen, 29, has made one start in the month of April, making 32 saves on 35 shots in a 3-2 loss to Vegas on April 6. Despite a strong start, the Finn has cooled down and sits at 24-15-9 on the season with a 2.67 GAA, a .899 save percentage, and four shutouts.
Avalanche Game Lineup
Artturi Lehkonen - Brock Nelson - Martin Necas
Miles Wood - Charlie Coyle - Valeri Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta - Parker Kelly - Logan O'Connor
Jimmy Vesey - Jack Drury - Chris Wagner
Devon Toews - Cale Makar
Sam Girard - Erik Johnson
Keaton Middleton - Sam Malinski
Mackenzie Blackwood is expected to be the Avalanche's starting goalie against the Canucks on Thursday night.
Since being rescued from San Jose, Blackwood is 22-10-3 with a 2.23 GAA, a .916 save percentage, and three shutouts in Colorado.
How to watch the Canucks game
Thursday night's Canucks game will be streamed on Sportsnet Pacific, Altitude Network, and KUSA. For fans unable to watch the Canucks game, Sportsnet 650 will be the radio broadcast available for your listening.