St. Louis @ Vancouver preview
Rogers Arena
Last Meeting ( Jan 4, 2024 ) Vancouver 1, St. Louis 2
The torrid Vancouver Canucks will try to extend their point streak to 10 games when they host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.
The Canucks, who are 8-0-1 in their past nine games, are coming off a low-event, 2-0 victory over the outmanned Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
"We got the two-goal lead and a little prevent defense and won 2-0," Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. "I love shutouts. I'd rather win 2-0 than 8-4 any day of the week. It gets you in the game. It means you're doing the right things when you get a shutout."
Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko made 31 saves to run his personal winning streak to seven games. The Canucks are now 29-0-1 this season when they lead after two periods.
"It wasn't our highest-emotion game, but we held the fort," defenseman Tyler Myers said. "Demmer played really well and made some big saves to keep it a two-goal lead, especially in the third, and two points is two points. When we're protecting a lead as much as we are going into the last 20 minutes, it shows that we have a system that works for us and that we're playing it hard. It's a good feeling.
"We just have to keep making sure that we don't get satisfied and keep trying to get better coming to the rink every day."
Myers figures the Canucks will need to dig deeper against the Blues, who rallied to beat the Flames 4-3 in Calgary on Tuesday night.
"We need to come out harder next game," Myers said. "We know we have more to give."
With defenseman Carson Soucy out for five to six weeks with a hand injury, the Canucks plugged Noah Juulsen back into the lineup after he sat out the previous five games as a healthy scratch. He played 15:51 against the Blackhawks and earned an assist.
The Canucks and Blues split two prior meetings this season, each winning at home. Vancouver prevailed 5-0 on Oct. 27, with Demko earning a 22-save shutout and Quinn Hughes (two goals) and J.T. Miller (goal, two assists) driving the offense.
The Blues won 2-1 on Jan. 4, with goaltender Jordan Binnington stopping 25 of 26 shots and Robert Thomas scoring one goal and setting up another. Since Binnington started in goal at Calgary on Tuesday, the Blues are likely to come back with Joel Hofer to face the Canucks this time around.
Blues interim coach Drew Bannister made one lineup change against the Flames, dressing winger Sammy Blais in place of Adam Gaudette while looking for his team to play a heavier style.
St. Louis rallied from a 3-1, second-period deficit to triumph in Calgary. The Blues have won two straight games while rebounding from a 0-2-1 streak.
"We weren't playing our best," Brandon Saad, who scored twice in the Tuesday game, told Bally Sports Midwest. "Obviously it's a big hockey game. We know where we're at in the standings. (Binnington) played pretty well to keep us in it."
The message going into the third period, Saad said, was "just go out and have our best period of the night -- and obviously we responded well."
--Field Level Media