Vancouver @ Dallas preview
American Airlines Center
Last Meeting ( Nov 4, 2023 ) Dallas 0, Vancouver 2
The Vancouver Canucks have spent a lot of energy beating some very strong teams of late, and it doesn't get any easier when they visit the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
The Canucks wrap up their four-game road swing with a contest against the Stars, who have won three straight at home in a clash of two Western Conference juggernauts.
The Canucks are battling for first in the Pacific Division with Vegas, while the Stars are in a fight for the top spot in the Central with Colorado and Winnipeg.
Vancouver has already won two out of three on the road trip, losing the first game in a shootout to Minnesota.
"Against this team here, they have a lot of offense, they can go. I think we defended them really well tonight," said coach Rick Tocchet after the Canucks cooled off the red-hot Nashville Predators 5-2 Tuesday.
The Canucks were already playing well before the road trip, and they appear almost invincible when All-Star forward Elias Pettersson gets into a groove like he did against Nashville.
Pettersson has 11 points in nine games in December after scoring just two points in the last six games of November.
He and Swiss forward Pius Suter each had a goal and an assist as twice the Canucks scored two goals in less than a minute against the Preds.
"I think it was a good, solid 60 minutes from us," said Pettersson of Vancouver, which is off to one of the best starts in franchise history. "We talked about our starts, and I think we came out strong."
Quinn Hughes and Ilya Mikheyev each recorded two assists, while Nils Aman, Nils Hoglander and Teddy Blueger also scored for the Canucks, who are 6-0-1 in their past seven games.
"We were really connected," said Tocchet.
Casey DeSmith made 26 saves as Vancouver swept the three-game season series from Nashville, which entered on a four-game winning streak with victories in 13 of its past 16 contests.
The Stars will play six of their next eight games at the American Airlines Center as they welcome some home cooking for a change.
Matt Duchene had two goals and an assist, and Jason Robertson also scored for the Stars, who extended their point streak to four games with a 4-3 overtime win over Seattle in their most recent game Monday.
Joe Pavelski added two assists, and Canadian goaltender Scott Wedgewood, filling in for the injured Jake Oettinger, made 35 saves to improve to 7-1-2 this season.
Thomas Harley's overtime winner came on a tip-in at the left post after a nifty pass from Duchene, who corralled the puck near the right faceoff circle.
"We ran out of gas a bit in the third," said Dallas coach Peter DeBoer. "If we cash in on the power play, we aren't in overtime."
The Stars will be without starting goaltender Oettinger, who is out with what the team is describing as a "lower body injury." Wedgewood has been solid as a backup.
DeBoer expects another strong performance from Duchene, who the Stars signed as a free agent.
"If he didn't have a slow start he might be leading the league in scoring," said DeBoer of Duchene, who has 10 points in his last seven games and 27 points overall.
This is the second meeting between these teams this season. The Canucks won 2-0 in early November.
--Field Level Media