TORONTO – The Vancouver Canucks (34-23-6) look to bounce back from a 5-2 loss in Ottawa when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs (34-23-8) tonight at Scotiabank Arena.
For the second straight game and the third time in their last five outings, the Canucks fell behind 2-0 in the first period on Thursday in the nation’s capital. They erased the 2-0 deficit to beat Montreal in overtime on Tuesday, but were unable to dig themselves out of the hole against the Senators.
JT Miller had a goal and an assist while Tyler Toffoli scored for a third straight game. Miller now has nine goals in his last 15 contests while Toffoli has 4+2=6 and 19 shots on goal in four games since being acquired from the LA Kings two weeks ago.
Thatcher Demko made stopped 20 of 24 shots in his second straight start. The San Diego native gets the call again tonight and the Canucks will go with the same 18 skaters in front of him. Demko is 1-2-1 with a 3.63 GAA and an 87.9% save percentage in his last four starts. As a team, the Canucks have surrendered 20 goals in their last five games.
Quinn Hughes picked up an assist on Miller’s goal in Ottawa giving the first year defenseman 51 points on the season. His 43 assists are a new Canucks franchise rookie record.
After picking up a point in a 4-3 shootout loss in Carolina on February 2nd, the Canucks had a nine point cushion over the chase pack below the playoff bar in the Western Conference. That lead has dwindled to just two as the month comes to a close tonight. The Canucks are 5-5-2 in their 12 games so far in February.
Following their loss in Ottawa, the Canucks are 1-3-1 in their last five road games and 7-10-1 in their last 18 away from home. Since November 24th, only Ottawa and Detroit have amassed fewer road points than the Canucks.
Elias Pettersson was injured and did not suit up when the Canucks visited Toronto last season. That makes Scotiabank Arena the only one of the 31 current NHL rinks in which Pettersson has yet to play.
The Maple Leafs have won back to back games and three of their last four after following up a 4-3 win in Tampa Bay on Tuesday with a 5-3 victory in Florida on Thursday. Auston Matthews, Zach Hyman and Justin Holl each had a goal and an assist to pace the attack against the Panthers. Toronto overcame a 3-1 deficit 12 minutes into the hockey game with four unanswered goals. The win pushed Toronto four points ahead of Florida in the battle for third spot in the Atlantic Division.
Matthews leads the Leafs with 44 goals and 76 points on the season. His 44 goals are second only to David Pastrnak’s 46 this season while his 11 power play goals give him a share of fifth in the league in that category. Along with Matthews, William Nylander (29), John Tavares (26) and Zach Hyman (20) are members of the Maple Leafs 20-goal club.
As a team, Toronto leads the NHL in goals with 228 goals on the season. However, only three teams – Detroit, Ottawa and Florida – have allowed more goals than the Leafs who have surrendered 212. One of the issues that has plagued the club is the 26th ranked penalty kill which is operating at 76.7%.
Frederik Andersen made 24 saves on Thursday in his sixth straight start. He will make his 50th start of the season tonight.
The Leafs lone loss in their last four games came last Saturday night at home against emergency back-up goalie David Ayres and the Carolina Hurricanes. On Friday, Ayres presented the stick he used that night to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
After tonight, the Leafs head out on a three game California road trip starting Tuesday in San Jose. Toronto was a 4-1 winner in Vancouver on December 10th. The Leafs blanked the Canucks 5-0 the last time these teams met at Scotiabank Arena in January of 2019.
The game within the game tonight will come in the face-off circle where the Canucks are second in the league at 54.1% while the Leafs are third at 52.7%.
POSSIBLE CANUCKS LINE-UP
Miller-Pettersson-Toffoli
Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson
Roussel-Gaudette-Virtanen
Motte-Beagle-Sutter
Hughes-Tanev
Edler-Stecher
Fantenberg-Myers
Demko
POSSIBLE LEAFS LINE-UP
Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Nylander-Tavares-Rosen
Clifford-Spezza-Kapanen
Engvall-Gauthier-Malgin
Dermott-Holl
Sandin-Barrie
Rosen-Marincin
Andersen