Vancouver Canucks Gameday Preview #34: Looking To Tie A Season Record Against The New York Islanders
With a win against the New York Islanders (19–12–3) tonight, the Vancouver Canucks (13–17–3) can tie a season record of three-straight wins, doing-so against all three teams based in the vicinity of New York. Vancouver is coming off a 3–0 win against the New York Rangers on Tuesday, which marked Thatcher Demko’s first shutout of the season and 10th throughout his entire career. The Islanders, on the other hand, are coming off a narrow 3–2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
A key piece in Vancouver matching their season record of three straight wins will be to continue playing a team-friendly game that has emerged as of late. Continuing to keep ice-time relatively spread out throughout their D-core rather than piling heavy minutes on particular players will contribute to the success of specific stretches such as while on the penalty kill.
In some ways, Vancouver has a fair advantage over the Islanders tonight, as New York is without their leading scorer in former Canucks captain Bo Horvat. Horvat had 19 goals and 12 assists on the season before sustaining an injury that will keep him out of today’s matchup. Limiting the Islanders’ offence will be much easier for Vancouver to do without Horvat in their lineup.
Players To Watch:
Thatcher Demko
According to Thomas Drance of The Athletic, Demko is projected to start tonight’s game against the Islanders, making this his fourth start in as many games. Demko is coming off his first shutout of the season and his seventh win in 13 starts, but has played remarkably as of late by only allowing one goal-against since Sunday. He’ll be looking to continue his solid stretch of play when the Canucks face the Islanders tonight.
Mathew Barzal
Barzal, who was questionable heading into it but ultimately played in his team’s match against the Red Wings on Tuesday, has eight points in his past seven games. This includes a three-point night against the Colorado Avalanche on December 4 as well as a current five-game point-streak that he’ll be looking to extend tonight. After Horvat, Barzal is the Islanders’ highest points-getter with 26 points in 33 games.
Vancouver Canucks (13–17–3):
Points:
Elias Pettersson: 8–14–22
Conor Garland: 7–12–19
Kiefer Sherwood: 13–4–17
Brock Boeser: 9–8–17
Filip Hronek: 2–15–17
Goaltenders:
Thatcher Demko: 7–5–0
Kevin Lankinen: 4–10–3
Nikita Tolopilo: 2–1–0
Jiří Patera: 0–1–0
New York Islanders (19–12–3):
Points:
Bo Horvat: 19–12–31
Mathew Barzal: 9–17–26
Matthew Schaefer: 9–14–23
Anders Lee: 8–13–21
Kyle Palmieri: 6–12–18
Goaltenders:
Ilya Sorokin: 12–9–2
David Rittich: 7–3–1
Game Information:
Start time: 4:00 pm PT
Venue: UBS Arena
Television: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
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