The Vancouver Canucks (23-9-3) host the Philadelphia Flyers (18-11-4) at 7 p.m at Rogers Arena on Thursday night. This is the second and final meeting between these two teams this season; the Canucks had previously lost 2-0 in Philadelphia on Oct. 17. This will be each team's first game since returning from the holiday break; this is the first leg of a back-to-back for the Flyers. Thursday's goaltending matchup will feature Sam Ersson and Casey DeSmith.
Expected Canucks lines vs Philadelphia Flyers, Dec. 28
Ilya Mikheyev - Elias Pettersson - Andrei Kuzmenko
Nils Hoglander - J.T. Miller - Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua - Teddy Blueger - Conor Garland
Nils Aman - Pius Suter - Sam Lafferty
Canucks defense
Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Nikita Zadorov - Tyler Myers
Ian Cole - Noah Juulsen
Canucks goaltending
Casey DeSmith will start against the Flyers, with Thatcher Demko backing him up.
Canucks preview:
- The Canucks are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games against the Flyers
- Vancouver is currently on a nine-game point streak (7-0-2)
- The Canucks can be the first team in the NHL to reach 50 points with a point Thursday night
- Quinn Hughes is currently tied with Alex Edler for most multi-point games by a Canucks defeseman in franchise history (68)
- Carson Soucy joined the Canucks for their morning skate on Thursday and is 'close' to a return, per Rick Tocchet via Brendan Batchelor
Expected Flyers lines
Owen Tippett - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster - Morgan Frost - Cam Atkinson
Joel Farabee - Ryan Poehling - Bobby Brink
Nick Deslauriers - Scott Laughton - Garnet Hathaway
Flyers defense
Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler - Sean Walker
Egor Zamula - Rasmus Ristolainen
Flyers goaltending
Sam Ersson will start against the Canucks, with Carter Hart backing him up.
How to watch the Vancouver Canucks:
Thursday's game will be broadcast on Sportsnet Pacific and NBC Sports Philadelphia, and can be heard on Sportsnet 650