Vancouver @ Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 12, 2019 ) Carolina 0, Vancouver 1

The first-place Vancouver Canucks continue to gain confidence and ride a five-game winning streak into Sunday afternoon's encounter with the host Carolina Hurricanes. Vancouver defeated the Islanders on Saturday in New York 4-3 as Calder Trophy contender Quinn Hughes scored his second goal of the game 42 seconds into overtime, and appears to be headed for its first postseason in five seasons.

"It's good to have swagger to a certain point,'' Canucks forward J.T. Miller told reporters. "I think this team hasn't had that winning record lately in the last few years, so I think maybe there wasn't (swagger). But this year, we feel good about ourselves; it's a different look. It's fun when we win. I think this team is buying into winning and doing what it takes to win. It's a really committed group." Carolina is coming off a sluggish 4-3 loss to Vegas on Friday in its first game in 10 days, and is part of a six-team scrum battling for four playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. “There were just a lot of no-shows tonight,” Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour told reporters. “We’re not good enough to have one or two guys not show. We had probably half a dozen and that makes it tough.” Vancouver snapped a three-game series slide with a 1-0 victory Dec. 12 behind Elias Pettersson's goal 40 seconds into overtime and Jacob Markstrom's 43 saves.

TIME: 2 p.m. ET. TV: FS Carolinas, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 360

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (30-18-4): Hughes, a defenseman who was taken seventh overall in the 2018 draft, has four of his eight goals this season in the last four games and is challenging Colorado blueliner Cale Makar for top rookie honors. Miller scored his 20th goal of the season Saturday, two shy of the career high he set in 2015-16 and matched the following year. Thatcher Demko could make his first appearance against Carolina after Markstrom made 34 saves Saturday.

ABOUT THE HURRICANES (29-19-3): Teuvo Teravainen leads the club with 50 points and the extended break didn't slow him down as he has two goals and three of his 39 assists in the last two games after recording one of each against Vegas. Sebastian Aho scored his team-leading 25th goal and had an assist Friday and is five tallies away from his career high of 30 set last season. Justin Williams provided an assist versus Vegas and has two goals and three points in three games since making his season debut Jan. 19.

OVERTIME

1. Carolina has scored a power-play goal in each of the last two games after going 0-for-18 in the previous eight contests.

2. Vancouver F Tyler Motte was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks.

3. The Hurricanes are 4-1-1 at home versus the Pacific Division this season.

PREDICTION: Hurricanes 3, Canucks 2