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After both played on the road in Alberta yesterday, the Vancouver Canucks (18-22-6) and Winnipeg Jets (20-23-3) meet up in Manitoba tonight. The Canucks played an 8pm local time start in Edmonton last night and then lost an hour traveling east after the game, so they will be playing their second game just 22 hours after the first one started.
 
It’s possible Bo Horvat could return to the line-up tonight after missing 18 games with a broken bone in his foot suffered December 5th against the Carolina Hurricanes. In his absence, the Canucks have struggled going 4-12-2. The versatile centre has been activated off injured reserve and Erik Gudbranson, who missed last night’s game in Edmonton with back spasms, has been placed on IR to make room on the roster.
 
The Canucks modest two-game win streak came to an end last night against the Oilers. The Canucks fell behind 2-0 in the first period before rallying with a pair of goals in the second to get back on even terms. However, Edmonton scored three unanswered goals to win 5-2. Daniel Sedin on a power play and Brandon Sutter had the Canuck goals. For Sutter, he has scored in back-to-back games after missing 21 games with a groin injury.
 
Alex Edler picked up an assist on the Sedin goal. He now has one goal and five assists for six points on a career-best five-game point streak. Edler had six shots on goal and a season-high 13 attempts last night. Brock Boeser also assisted on Daniel’s goal giving the rookie his first point in four games. He has now gone five games without a goal and has just one (at TOR) in his past eight outings.
 
Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves in the loss last night. It was his fourth straight start and fifth in the past six outings. It’s quite possible Markstrom will get the night off tonight making way for Anders Nilsson, who would make his first start since a 5-2 loss in Montreal on January 7th. Nilsson has not posted a victory since November 30th in Nashville.
 
Tonight marks the end of a run of seven straight games on the road for the Canucks. They are 2-3-1 through the first six. They open a five-game home stand against Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
 
Winnipeg snapped a two-game losing streak with a 2-1 shootout victory at the Saddledome yesterday. Mathieu Perreault scored the Jets lone goal in regulation and then Brian Little and Blake Wheeler beat Mike Smith in the skills competition. Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for the victory.
 
Since October 26th, only Boston (55) has more points in the standings than Winnipeg (53). The Jets are 9-3-2 since mid-December and after an indifferent 4-3-2 start to the season are 23-10-5 in their past 38 games.
 
Connor Hellebuyck has started three straight and nine of 10 and is expected to go in goal again tonight. He is second in the league in wins (24) and is 24-6-6 on the season. He has a 2.35 GAA and 92.4 save percentage.
 
The Jets have the second best PP in the NHL (25.1%) and are third in the league in face-off win percentage (52.7%).
 
Winnipeg is one of the top home-ice teams in the league posting a 16-3-1 record and outscoring opponents 82-50. The Jets and Vegas are tied with the fewest home ice losses although Vegas has dropped just two games in regulation time. The Jets have the best home PP in the league (32.9%). They’ve also played the fewest home games (20) in the league which bodes well for them down the stretch.
 
With nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points at Bell MTS Place, Blake Wheeler is tied for fourth in the league in home ice scoring. Wheeler leads the team with 53 points and is tied for eighth with Connor McDavid in league scoring. He is tied for fifth in the NHL with 39 assists. Patrik Laine leads the team with 20 goals while Nikolaj Ehlers has 19.Mathieu Perreault has scored in back to back games.
 
Mark Scheifele, who had 38 points in 38 games, will miss his 10th straight game tonight after suffering shoulder injury against Edmonton on December 27th.
 
Defenseman Toby Enstrom played in his 700th NHL game yesterday.
 
The Jets have beaten the Canucks in their two previous meetings this season – 4-2 in Vancouver on October 12th and 5-1 in Winnipeg last month.
 
 
Possible Canucks lines for tonight:
Sedin-Sedin-Vanek
Baertschi-Horvat-Boeser
Eriksson-Sutter-Granlund
Gaunce-Dowd-Gagner
Extras: Virtanen
 
Jets lines:
Connor-Wheeler-Laine
Perreault-Little-Ehlers
Tanev-Copp-Armia
Dano-Hendricks-Roslovic