It was a relatively quiet morning around the rink with a skeleton crew taking the ice for a Canucks optional skate. Nils Höglander, in a non-contact jersey, was among those taking to the ice. The injured winger will not play tonight while the Canucks will go with the same lineup they used in Sunday’s 3-1 loss in Winnipeg.

Thatcher Demko returns to the net for a second straight start and his fourth in the past five games. The veteran netminder returned from injury on the road trip and has not played on home ice since leaving a February 8th game against Toronto in the first period with an injury that kept him out of action for six weeks.

The Canucks went 2-2-2 on their recently completed road trip. Pius Suter had the team’s lone goal against the Jets and led the club with eight points on the trip, while Kiefer Sherwood had seven points. This is the first game at Rogers Arena since a 6-2 win over Winnipeg on March 18th.

Vancouver has opened the scoring in five straight games and eight of their last nine. More than that, they have held the lead at some point in each of their last 10 games. They are 5-3-2 in those contests. That coincides with captain Quinn Hughes returning to the lineup in Calgary on March 12th.

The Canucks will have their final set of back to back games on the weekend when they host Anaheim on Saturday afternoon (1 pm) and Vegas on Sunday night (7 pm).

The opponent

The Kraken arrived here after a weekend sweep at the hands of the Dallas Stars. Dallas posted a 5-1 victory on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena and followed that up with a 3-1 victory on Monday night in a two-game set in Seattle. The Kraken opened the scoring in the first 90 seconds of each game but could not build on the early leads either night.

Seattle is limping toward the finish line with just one win in its last six games (1-4-1). The club is also 2-6-1 in its last nine on the road. Overall, the Kraken sits 29th in the NHL standings. 

Jared McCann leads Seattle with 52 points on the season, while Jaden Schwartz is the team’s top goal scorer with 23. Eeli Tolvanen has 22. However, neither Schwartz nor Tolvanen will play tonight.

While the Kraken rank 15th in the NHL in goals scored this season, the team is third in goals by defencemen behind only Colorado and Columbus. Brandon Montour leads the way with 16 goals, while Vince Dunn has 11.

Joey Daccord had Monday night off, so he’ll be back in net tonight. This will be his 50th start of the season, and he has recorded 24 of the team’s 31 wins this season.

The Kraken have defeated the Canucks in two of their first three meetings this season. Two of the games have required overtime, including Seattle’s stunning 5-4 OT victory on December 28th when the Kraken overcame a 4-1 deficit with under five minutes to play.

Today’s referees: Trevor Hanson & Kyle Rehman

Today’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Ray Ferraro

What we heard

Dakota Joshua on facing an uphill climb but keeping playoff hopes alive: “Obviously we’re in a tough spot here but we know what needs to be done and I think everybody is excited for the challenge. You can’t go very far without getting past what’s in front of you, so that’s our focus and we need everybody tonight. I think we need all eight (games). I think that’s what the whole group thinks so we need this one to get it going.”

Make sure to join the Rink Wide Vancouver postgame live stream immediately following tonight’s game. Rink Wide will provide a full breakdown and comprehensive coverage of the Canucks game. When the final buzzer sounds, be sure to log onto Rink Wide and join the YouTube live chat to discuss the game with other Canucks fans. Subscribe to the Rink Wide YouTube channel and never miss an episode.