Dallas @ Vancouver preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 30, 2019 ) Dallas 2, Vancouver 3

The Vancouver Canucks snapped a four-game losing streak with an impressive win last time out and look to carry that over when their homestand continues with a matchup against the red-hot Dallas Stars on Thursday night. Elias Pettersson scored twice on his 21st birthday as the Canucks knocked off Nashville 5-3 on Tuesday after managing five goals during a 0-3-1 stretch.

“That was a gutsy effort by our team all the way around,” Vancouver coach Travis Green told reporters. “We talked to our group before the game that we are going to need all hands on deck tonight to bring their best. … That was a big win.” The Canucks have earned at least a point in five of the last six meetings (4-1-1), including a 3-2 shootout win at Vancouver on March 30, but will face a Dallas team that boasts at least a point in eight of its past 10 contests (8-1-1). The Stars have allowed 16 goals in their last 10 contests after Ben Bishop turned aside 24 shots in Wednesday’s 3-1 victory at Calgary, which followed a 3-2 overtime setback at Winnipeg on Sunday that opened a four-game trip. Dallas earned the victory over the Flames without the benefit of a point from Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov or captain Jamie Benn while leading goal scorer Roope Hintz (nine) remains out with a lower-body injury.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver)

ABOUT THE STARS (9-8-2): Veteran forward Joe Pavelski enjoyed the first multi-goal game with his new team Wednesday to become the fifth Dallas player to reach 10 points as Seguin and Hintz lead the way with 11. Forward Justin Dowling scored his first NHL goal on a nifty toe drag in the victory over Calgary while defenseman Miro Heiskanen notched an assist for his 10th point and right wing Corey Perry had one shot in his 1,000th career game. Bishop (6-5-1) has given up five goals in his last four starts, but will likely give way to backup Anton Khudobin (3-3-1, .915 save percentage) to end the back-to-back.

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (10-6-3): With fourth-line center Jay Beagle (undisclosed) out of the lineup Tuesday and third-line pivot Brandon Sutter lost to a lower-body injury during the game, captain Bo Horvat (14 points) played a game high 27 minutes, 6 seconds. “Bo is a horse, he can play a lot of minutes,” Green told the media. “We definitely didn’t want to run him like that, but we had no choice tonight. … He’s probably the only guy on our team that can play those kind of minutes up front, and he was good tonight.” Pettersson leads the club with 23 points - four more than J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser.

OVERTIME

1. Dallas F Andrew Cogliano (two assists, 19 games) left Wednesday’s game with a lower-body injury and his status for Vancouver is uncertain.

2. Vancouver G Thatcher Demko won five of his seven starts this season and has not allowed more than three goals in any game.

3. The Canucks are 4-for-6 with the man advantage the past two contests and the Stars have killed off 18-of-20 power plays over the last four games.

PREDICTION: Canucks 3, Stars 2