The Canucks are expected to sit Jake DeBrusk in their first matchup of the season against the Seattle Kraken tonight.
The Vancouver Canucks (15–19–3) will take part in their first of two games against the Seattle Kraken (16–14–6) this week, starting with a match on the road. Vancouver is coming off a poor 6–3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, in which they were unable to find their legs quickly enough to scrape together a winning effort. The Kraken are taking part in the second-half of a back-to-back, as they played the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night, winning by a score of 4–1.
Vancouver’s biggest piece of news surrounding tonight’s game is the fact that Jake DeBrusk is expected to be healthy-scratched. The forward skated on the extras line with David Kämpf and Filip Chytil during practice on Sunday, with Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote later clarifying that DeBrusk would not be playing on Monday. In his and Kämpf’s place, Nils Höglander and Aatu Räty will draw back into the lineup.
Saturday’s effort was a poor one from the Canucks, who were unable to keep up with San Jose’s pace of play and found themselves unmatched on both sides of the ice. Vancouver could not generate quality scoring chances near the Sharks’ net and allowed lots of good chances in front of their own. With that being said, one area in which Vancouver can try to beat Seattle in is on offence. The Kraken are the lowest-scoring team in the entire NHL, having only scored a total of 93 goals throughout the season. This stat only gets worse for Seattle when you look at their 5-on-5 goals scored, which currently sits at only 56. This will be an area for Vancouver to capitalize on if they want to start this hybrid home-and-away back-to-back off properly.
Players To Watch:
Brock Boeser
With DeBrusk sitting out tonight, all eyes will look to Brock Boeser, who has also been struggling offensively as of late. The forward has the same goal (9) and assist (8) totals as DeBrusk, and has yet to record a point since December 16. Prior to that game, he went seven games without registering a point. The last goal he scored came on November 28 against the Sharks. Boeser will be a player to watch to see if he can find the scoresheet and break his current dry spell on offence.
Jared McCann
McCann’s season has not gone as planned, to say the least, as the forward has only skated in a total of 12 games. He has missed two separate stretches of the season due to different lower-body injuries but made his return on December 28 against the Flyers. In his 12 games this season, McCann has five goals and three assists. McCann’s return brings the Kraken a big boost on offence, especially in getting the goals they so badly seem to need. Not to mention, the former Canuck also has five goals and 16 assists in 22 games against Vancouver, most recently grabbing three assists against them back in April.
Vancouver Canucks (15–19–3):
Points:
Elias Pettersson: 8–14–22
Conor Garland: 7–15–22
Filip Hronek: 2–20–22
Kiefer Sherwood: 16–4–20
Evander Kane: 6–12–18
Goaltenders:
Thatcher Demko: 8–7–0
Kevin Lankinen: 5–10–3
Nikita Tolopilo: 2–1–0
Jiří Patera: 0–1–0
Seattle Kraken (16–14–6):
Points:
Eeli Tolvanen: 7–18–25
Jordan Eberle: 14–10–24
Chandler Stephenson: 10–14–24
Matty Beniers: 4–17–21
Vince Dunn: 5–14–19
Goaltenders:
Joey Daccord: 10–9–4
Philipp Grubauer: 6–3–1
Mat Murray: 4–0–2
Game Information:
Start time: 7:00 pm PT
Venue: Climate Pledge Arena
Television: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
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