Oil nipping at Canucks' heels in Pacific
Vancouver Canucks (48-22-9) vs. Edmonton Oilers (48-24-8) When: Tonight, 7 p.m.
Where: Rogers Place
TV: Hockey Night In Canada
Radio: Sportsnet 650
The buzz: When the NHL puts together its schedule every year, it looks to put divisional rivals together as much as possible in the final weeks of the season. It's in hopes of moments like this, where two high-powered teams show down with everything on the line.
The stakes tonight are pretty simple.
If the Canucks win, they'll just about seal the deal on winning the division, though they would still need one more win to wrap it all up. If the Oilers win, they'd still have a lot of work to do to win the division, but that would be a big hurdle they would have successfully cleared.
“We're going to go day by day,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said about the chances that Thatcher Demko could play tonight.
Demko said Thursday the plan had been for him to return Tuesday against Calgary, but seemed quietly optimistic he could be an option tonight.
The history: The Oilers' season looks very different from when these teams last met in November. The Canucks won all three of those early season games. Edmonton couldn't defend. The Canucks scored 18 goals in those three games and weren't the only NHL opponent feasting on the Oilers. Things got so bad, the Oilers fired head coach Jay Woodcroft, just days after the Canucks beat the Oilers for a third time. Since then, they've gone 45-15-4.
The hope: The Canucks have struggled a lot of late, but it hasn't been because of their defending. Their defence has improved immensely during the course of the season. It's the offence that has stumbled at times. They do have one other advantage of being rested going into tonight's game, while the Oilers faced the Arizona Coyotes on Friday.
The fear: Connor Mcdavid is, once again, having a season for the ages. He can take over a game at a moment's notice.
The top guns: Quinn Hughes is trying to take his squad to the promised land, and he has been on a remarkable run: nine points in five games. J.T. Miller has six assists in that stretch.
Leon Draisaitl had six points in five games going into Friday's game. Mcdavid has scored 11 goals since the all-star break, but he has 52 assists.
The quote: “He's our rock. When he does come back, obviously it instils confidence,” Tocchet said about Demko's return.
The wounded: Canucks: Elias Lindholm (undisclosed, day to day) and Thatcher Demko (lower body, week to week).
The lineup:
■ Höglander-pettersson-mikheyev
■ Suter-miller-boeser
■ Joshua-lindholm- Garland
■ Di Giuseppe-blueger-lafferty
■ Hughes-hronek
■ Soucy-myers
■ Zadorov-juulsen
■ Silovs
The prediction: The Canucks had a big win on Monday against Vegas. They should have won Wednesday versus Arizona. They will squeeze this one out 4-3.