Lots of goals and a solid defence should guide the Canucks to victory Saturday against the Red Wings.
Vancouver Canucks (34-12-5) vs. Detroit Red Wings (26-18-6)
When and where: Saturday, 10 a.m., Little Caesars Arena
TV: Sportsnet Radio: Sportsnet 650
The buzz: The Canucks were terrible Thursday in Boston — but they also hadn’t outright lost in regulation in the dozen games before that. They remain the best team in the NHL. Like the Canucks, the Red Wings have had a remarkable ability to finish this season, but unlike the Canucks, the Red Wings have been a mess for the most part in their own end. This one has the makings for goals galore. Detroit has won six of their last 10 and have actually scored at a higher rate over their past 10 than Vancouver, 3.2 goals per game versus 2.9.
The history: These two teams haven’t met this season. (They’ll meet again next Thursday, though!) They faced each other twice last February as well, with the Wings blitzing the Canucks in both encounters, 6-1 and 5-2.
The hope: The Canucks have been successful this season because they’ve scored lots of goals but even more importantly because they’ve been adept at playing solid defence. That’s a mix that should guide them to victory on Saturday.
The fear: Their top six forwards have just nine shots on goal combined in the last two games. They need more from them — but what if they’ve hit a rut? Also Detroit goalie Alex Lyon has been outstanding of late, what if he stands on his head?
The top guns: Elias Pettersson was an NHL star of the month in January, but also hasn’t recorded an even-strength goal in more than a month. J.T. Miller had 19 points in January, scored the game winner on Tuesday in Carolina, but like Pettersson had an abysmal night Thursday in Boston. Dylan Larkin remains Mr. Everything for Detroit, he has nine goals in 10 games.
The wounded: Canucks: Carson Soucy (broken hand, six to eight weeks), Phil Di Giuseppe (lower-body, IR), Guillaume Brisebois (concussion, indefinite). Red Wings: Ben Chiarot (upper-body, day to day), Ville Husso (undisclosed, day to day), Patrick Kane (lower-body, day to day), Matt Luff (upper-body, week to week)
The quote: “Obviously, I want to score and you get an opportunity like that and you miss the net it’s obviously frustrating, but as long as you’re getting those chances, you gotta keep working on it.” — Brock Boeser, on looking skyward last game after hooking a shot in front of a wide-open net. Boeser, who has 27 goals on the season, hasn’t scored in six games.
The lineup:
Forwards
Suter-Miller-Boeser
Mikheyev-Pettersson-Lindholm
Joshua-Blueger-Garland
Höglander-Åman-Lafferty
Defence
Hughes-Myers
Zadorov-Hronek
Cole-Juulsen
Goalie
Thatcher Demko
The prediction: This game has all the markings of a wild one: look for the Canucks to win a 5-4 romp.