Canucks vs Blues: Game Day Snap Shots

First game home for Canucks after successful road trip

The Vancouver Canucks (4-2) open a three-game homestand tonight against the St. Louis Blues (3-2-1). The visitors are here after a 3-0 win in Calgary last night while the Canucks are gearing up for back to backs of their own with the New York Rangers in town on Saturday.

Here's what you need to know ahead of tonight's 7pm start at Rogers Arena:

*The Canucks held an optional morning skate so all line-up projections are based on the way the team skated at practice on Thursday. It appears Rick Tocchet will go with the same line-up that beat Nashville 3-2 on Tuesday. That means Nils Höglander stays in on the fourth line while Jack Studnicka will sit for a second straight game.

*Tocchet says he'll split his goalies this weekend, so Thatcher Demko gets the start tonight. That means Casey DeSmith will face the Rangers tomorrow. Demko got the start at Rogers Arena in the Canucks home opener, but left that game after 48 minutes and with his team comfortably ahead 7-1. Tonight will mark the second time this season that he has made back to back starts.

*Tocchet suggested that back to back games shouldn't be an issue for Ilya Mikheyev in his first week back in the line-up. The coach also noted that Teddy Blueger did not skate this morning, but worked out in the gym. Tocchet had hoped the injured Blueger would resume skating as early as today

*Elias Pettersson has terrorized the Blues in his time in the NHL. He had a five point night in St. Louis in his rookie season and was in on all three goals and scored the winner in overtime in a 3-2 victory last season. All told, Pettersson has 5+12=17 in 11 head to head meetings with St. Louis.

*The Canucks have had the fewest power play opportunities in the league (17) through their six games. At the other end of the spectrum Ottawa and Carolina have each had 35 chances with the man-advantage. The Senators have played seven games while the Hurricanes have played eight.

*The Blues arrive in town playing low-event hockey. They are 28th in the league in offense (2.17 goals/game) and tied for fifth in defense (2.33 goals against/game). The Blues and Anaheim are the only teams in the league with just one power play goal on the season. St. Louis is 1/19 (5.3%) with Pavel Buchnevich scoring their lone goal with the man-advantage in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

*Birthday boy Brandon Saad (turning 31 today) is the only Blues player with more than one goal on the season so far. Eleven other players have chipped in with one goal each.

*Jordan Binnington is likely to get the start for St. Louis after watching Joel Hofer shutout Calgary last night. Binnington is 2-1-1 this season with a 1.69 GAA and a .945 save percentage. Lifetime against the Canucks, he is 4-0-2 with a 2.38 GAA and .926 save percentage in six regular season starts. That's in sharp contrast to his 0-3 record against the Canucks from the 2020 playoff bubble where he had a 5.21 GAA and an .800 save percentage.

Tonight's referees:Michael Markovic and Jon McIssac