The Vancouver Canucks are 3-0-1 at home and the Dallas Stars are 4-0-1 on the road. Something has to give as the two teams face off on Saturday night.
The Stars survived the dreaded turtle twice in back to back games against the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers. Both of those teams are congealing near the bottom of the Pacific Division. Not so, the Canucks – they trail only the Vegas Golden Knights at the top of the standings.
And by all accounts, the team has earned that slot, scoring at a 4.6 goals per game rate while sporting one of the best save percentages in the NHL.
No. These Canucks aren’t the afterthought to the Western Canada swing.
Dallas Stars Lineup
Jason Robertson (21) – Roope Hintz (24) – Joe Pavelski (16)
Jamie Benn (14) – Wyatt Johnston (53) – Evgenii Dadonov (63)
Mason Marchment (27) – Matt Duchene (95) – Tyler Seguin (91)
Craig Smith (15) – Ty Dellandrea (10) – Sam Steel (18)
Ryan Suter (20) – Miro Heiskanen (4)
Esa Lindell (23) – Nils Lundkvist (5)
Thomas Harley (55) – Jani Hakanpää (2)
Jake Oettinger (29)
Scott Wedgewood (41)
Still no indication on the availability of Radek Faksa. With Wedgewood winning in Edmonton, it should be Oettinger back in net against the Canucks.
At some point, you’d think that Joel Hanley needs to draw in.
Vancouver Canucks Lineup
Phillip Di Giuseppe (34) – J. T. Miller (9) – Brock Boeser (6)
Ilya Mikheyev (65) – Elias Pettersson (40) – Andrei Kuzmenko (96)
Anthony Beauvillier (72) – Pius Suter (24) – Conor Garland (8)
Dakota Joshua (81) – Sam Lafferty (18) – Nils Hoglander (21)
Quinn Hughes (43) – Filip Hronek (17)
Ian Cole (82) – Mark Friedman (51)
Carson Soucy (7) – Tyler Myers (57)
Thatcher Demko (35)
Casey DeSmith (29)
Only five of the starting nineteen players for the Canucks were drafted into the system (three first rounders and two second rounders). The rest of the team has been put together through solid trades and free-agent signings. The result is a team of players mostly within their prime production years. Not many prospects and not many guys in their mid-30s.
Head Coach Rick Tocchet has the team playing an uptempo game, and for the early season, its working.
Goaltending is working out as well, with Demko putting up numbers in the same ballpark as Jake Oettinger.
Dallas better be ready to work through some frustrations, because to date, Demko has been stoning everyone.
Keys to the Game
Classic goalie dual. Last man standing wins.
Hangover effects. How does Vancouver respond after putting up a touchdown and a field goal against the San Jose Sharks? Do the Stars rest on the two games won and consider the Canadian road trip a qualified success?
First Period. How many times can Dallas get away with snoozing out of the gate? And then just opening the spigot in the second period?