Game #61: Ducks vs. Canucks Gameday Preview

The Hockey News' Derek Lee previews the Ducks' matchup against the Vancouver Canucks.

Coming off two consecutive wins on Thursday and Friday against the Sharks and the Devils, the Ducks are looking to make it three wins in a row tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.

Their win against the Devils came in dramatic fashion after Jack Hughes was awarded a penalty shot with 2.1 remaining in the third period after Frank Vatrano purposely dislodged the net from its moorings. Lukáš Dostál prevented Hughes from even getting a good attempt on net and helped secure the 4-3 victory.

"I was pretty confident that I can stop it," said Dostál, who credited teammates Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson among others for providing different shootout and penalty shot perspectives during practice and warmups.

With the Mar. 8 trade deadline quickly approaching, all eyes are on Adam Henrique, whose contract expires at the end of this season. The veteran provides versatility on many different fronts and would be a useful addition for several playoff contenders. He is currently riding a four-game point streak. It's possible that he could be held out of the lineup either tonight or on Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators as trade discussions continue to intensify.

Mason McTavish left Friday's game with an upper-body injury. McTavish appeared to suffer the injury in the build-up to Anaheim's first goal of the game. He finished the period but did not come out for the second and never returned. His status for tonight's game is unknown.

Cam Fowler and Leo Carlsson's statuses are also unknown after both suffered injuries against the Sharks on Thursday. Both are day-to-day with a facial laceration and upper-body injury, respectively.

Fast Facts:
-Frank Vatrano is one goal away from 30, which would mark the first 30-goal campaign of his career. Vatrano added two tallies on Friday against the Devils.
-Troy Terry has 14 points in 14 career games against the Canucks. He was held scoreless in the Ducks' matchup against the Canucks earlier this season, a 3-1 defeat.
-Adam Henrique is one point away from surpassing Scott Niedermayer (264) for 10th on the Ducks' all-time points list.

Ducks Projected Lines

Max Jones - Adam Henrique - Alex Killorn
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Troy Terry
Isac Lundeström - Sam Carrick - Jakob Silfverberg
Ross Johnston - Benoit-Olivier Groulx - Brett Leason

Pavel Mintyukov - Radko Gudas
Urho Vaakanainen - Olen Zellweger
Jackson LaCombe - Gustav Lindström

John Gibson

Canucks Projected Lines

Nils Höglander - Elias Pettersson - Pius Suter
Ilya Mikheyev - J.T. Miller - Brock Boeser
Vasili Podkolzin - Elias Lindholm - Conor Garland
Phillip Di Giuseppe - Teddy Blueger - Sam Lafferty

Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Nikita Zadorov - Noah Juulsen
Ian Cole - Mark Friedman

Casey DeSmith