The sprint to the finish begins tonight for the Vancouver Canucks (42-26-4) who launch into the final 10 games of their regular season when they host the Winnipeg Jets (38-23-12) at Rogers Arena. Both teams are tied with 88 points and both currently hold down playoff spots in the Western Conference. The Canucks are second in the Pacific Division while the Jets are currently occupying the second wild card spot.

The Canucks got the day started by announcing a five-year extension for defenseman Chris Tanev. The deal carries an annual average value of $4.45 million.

Another blueliner, Luca Sbisa, was the overtime hero the last time these teams met on February 3, giving the Canucks a 3-2 victory. The teams will play again April 4 in the Canucks’ only visit to the Manitoba capital.

After a rare night off on Sunday in Arizona, Eddie Lack is expected to return to Vancouver’s net tonight. Lack made 25 saves in a 4-1 win in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon and is 10-4-1 in his past 15 decisions since the start of February. Ronalds Kenins is expected to replace Brandon McMillan up front.

The Canucks struggling power play produced third period game winners in both LA and Arizona over the weekend. Yannick Weber and Alex Edler scored two of the team’s three goals against the Coyotes and defensemen contributed five points on the two-game road trip. Sunday was just the second time this season and first since December 20 that two Canucks defensemen have scored in the same game.

Daniel Sedin has two goals and six points on a four game point streak, while Radim Vrbata had back-to-back multi-point games on the weekend, scoring once and setting up three others. His goal in LA set a career high for PPG in a season (11).

The Canucks are 7-3 in their past 10 games at Rogers Arena and finish the season with six of their final 10 games on home ice.

The Canucks were 23-15-3 at the midway mark (49 pts/.598 winning percentage) and through many injuries are on a better pace in the second half of the season where they are 19-11-1 (39 pts/.625).

The Jets cruise into town on a five-game win streak after a 4-1 victory in Edmonton last night. Ondrej Pavelec, the NHL’s first star of the week, got the win but will watch as Michael Hutchinson plays for the first time since February 12 in Florida. They will once again be without injured players Brian Little (team’s co-leader with 24 goals) and Dustin Byfuglien.

The Jets are 3-1-3 in the second half of back-to-back sets so far this season. They, along with the Kings play the fewest back to backs in the NHL (9).

After a goal last night, Drew Stafford has four goals and eight points on a six-game point streak. He has seven goals and 14 points in 17 games since being acquired by Buffalo. Tyler Myers has three goals and 11 points in 16 games since the deal.

The Jets have taken the most minor penalties in the league this season (346) and are 29th in average PIM per game (13.8). They are 12th in the league on the penalty kill.