Strong D will keep Flames at bay

VANCOUVER CANUCKS (44-18-8) VS. CALGARY FLAMES (33-30-5)

When: Tonight, 7 p.m.

Where: Rogers Arena

TV: Hockey Night in Canada

Radio: Sportsnet 650

The buzz: Andrei Kuzmenko is back in Vancouver, but his story has become a mere blip on the course of the Canucks' season. The real focus now is securing a playoff spot. A Canucks win tonight would get them within two, maybe just one, wins of securing the playoffs. The Flames have a dim, faint hope of still making the dance.

The history: The Canucks beat the Flames 4-3 in their most recent matchup on Dec. 2, a couple of weeks after an exhausted Canucks squad lost to the Flames in Calgary 5-2. Since then, Calgary has punted on the season, moving Elias Lindholm to Vancouver, Noah Hanifin to Vegas and Chris Tanev to Dallas. They have their eyes focused on next year.

The hope: The Canucks have become a defensive force of late, giving up just 12 goals in eight games. They've won six of those games. They want to keep the Flames on the outside, just as they've done with all other opponents of late.

The fear: They slip back to some early-season bad habits and lose their way in the third period, like they did last week versus Colorado.

The top guns: J.T. Miller is set to hit 90 points for the second time in his career; he's on 89 points. Elias Pettersson has 82 points. Quinn Hughes has set a new career high and team record: he has 79 points this season. Nazem Kadri leads the way for Calgary with 59 points.

The quote: “I think that's dangerous when you start to think of if we get five more points this or that. Honestly, I don't look at it that way. In the team meetings, that's not how we approach it.” — Rick Tocchet on whether needing just a couple more wins to truly secure a playoff spot serves as motivation

The wounded: Canucks: Dakota Joshua (hand injury, one to two weeks), Ian Cole (undisclosed, day to day), Elias Lindholm (undisclosed, day to day), Thatcher Demko (lower-body, week to week). Flames: Dillon Dubé (charged with sexual assault, indefinite), Connor Zary (upper body, injured reserve), Dan Vladar (hip, out for season).

THE LINEUP Forwards

■ Suter-miller-boeser

■ Höglander-pettersson-garland

■ Podkolzin-lindholm-lafferty

■ Mikheyev-blueger-åman

Defence

■ Hughes-hronek

■ Soucy-myers

■ Zadorov-cole

Goalie

■ Casey Desmith

The prediction: The Flames are a mess. The Canucks are not. Watch Vancouver win 4-1.

Fan forum: Do you have a specific question for a player? Pass it along to @provincesports and we'll get it in a future edition.

Patrick Johnston